Final Fantasy VII
by matsuo nakata
Summary: Novelization of the game.I'm back to finish this thing! Chapter 22 is up. Next on the to do list: Catch a chocobo. Yet another obstacle in Avalanche's path. This is 100% completely true to the game for those who want to know the exact story
1. Mako Reactor 1

Disclaimer= Final Fantasy VII does not belong to me in any way. Although I do own a copy of it ^.^

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A flower girl stood quietly in a dark alleyway of the floating city of Midgar. A neat braid hung down her back and green eyes shone as bright as the mako sparks she was silently staring at. She thought for a minute before continuing down the dark corridor, her steps echoing through the night.

Loveless Avenue was bustling with traffic and cars just as it always was during this time of night. People were just going on with their everyday lives as usual. Little did they know of the nightmare that was soon to come.

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The Mark II Shinra Express screeched to a stop at the sector 1 station. Two rebels jumped off the train quickly disposing of the two guards clad in their red uniforms standing ready at the station. The third to clumsily fall off the train followed the other two as they made their way down the small space between the station and the train.

Next was the leader of the rebel group. A large black man with a mini gun grafted into his right forearm. And finally there was a spikey-headed blonde with piercing blue mako eyes.

"C'mon newcomer. Follow me," the leader said in a gruff voice before running down the ramp the same way the others had gone.

The Ex-SOLDIER nodded and ran down the metal platform soon getting stopped by two low ranking guards who were both struck down within a matter of seconds. He ran quickly up the stairs and headed over to the other three rebels.

"Wow! You used to be in SOLDIER all right! …Not everyday ya find one in a group like AVALANCHE." Biggs greeted the blonde who stood silently. He just wanted to get this mission over with.

Jessie, the only girl in the group, turned and stopped her work briefly. "SOLDIER? Aren't they the enemy?" she questioned Biggs. "What's he doing with us in AVALANCHE?"

"Hold it, Jessie. He WAS in SOLDIER. He quit them and now is one of us." Biggs turned to the Ex-SOLDIER. "Didn't catch your name…"

"…Cloud."

"Cloud, eh? I'm-"

Cloud shook his head and glared at the young man. "I don't care what your names are. Once this job's over… I'm outta here."

"The hell you all doin'!?," the leader of AVALANCHE, Barret, loudly interrupted. "I thought I told you never to move in a group! Our target's the North Mako Reactor. We'll meet on the bridge in front of it," he commanded.

Jessie soon got the door open and headed off with the other three towards the bridge to Mako Reactor 1. Barret turned to Cloud for a moment and looked over the man of about 20. "Ex-SOLDIER, huh? Don't trust ya!"

Cloud shrugged and took off down the winding maze of brick corridors leading to the bridge.

The bridge to the reactor was relatively easy to get across, seeing as there weren't many guards on patrol. In fact, there were only two or three at the most, who were all easily dispatched of by the giant Buster sword that Cloud carried with him at all time.

"Yo! This your first time in a reactor?" Barret yelled as Cloud made his way up the steps to the reactor.

The blonde scratched his head and thought for a second. "No. After all, I did work for Shinra, y'know."

"The planet's full of Mako energy. People here use it every day."

Cloud shrugged, not caring about the situation at all.

"It's the life blood of this planet. But Shinra keeps suckin' the blood out with these weird machines." Barret waved his arm in the air as if it would show more emphasis on what he was trying to explain.

"I'm not here for a lecture. Let's just hurry."

Barret glared at the much shorter man. "That's it! You're comin' with me from now on."

Biggs then pressed a few buttons on the terminal next to the door and deciphered the code. The industrial metal door opened with a loud screech. Jessie then did the same with the next two doors giving them access to the elevator, which they hoped would take them to the reactor itself.

Barret, Cloud and Jessie piled into the cramped elevator. Jessie motioned to Cloud and pointed to the far side of the room. "Push that button over there!"

Cloud nodded and pushed the button. The elevator started it's slow descent into the heart of the reactor.

"Little by little the reactors'll drain out all the life. And that'll be that." Barret tried to continue his explanation to Cloud. Who once again simply shrugged, not caring in the least bit.

"It's not my problem."

"The Planet's dyin', Cloud!"

"The only thing I care about is finishin' this job before security and the Roboguards come."

The elevator soon came to a stop at the bottom floor of the reactor, signaling to the group that the argument was over.

The trek down the multiple flights of stairs could have been a lot easier had it not been for the 1st Rays that ambushed the two, seemingly every 10 seconds. Who were more of an annoyance than an actual threat.

They jumped over the gaps in between where concrete had fallen and made their way down the numerous ladders and cat walks. After seemingly hours of descending they finally made it to the last bridge. A straight shot to the heart of the beast. The sickening smell of burned mako hung over them like a thick blanket.

Cloud and Barret carefully made their way across the narrow bridge, holding onto the railings that lined each side. One slip would mean a certain death, burning in the steaming pits of mako that boiled underneath them.

They continued on their way until something shiny caught Cloud's eye. He reached down to pick it up and examined the glowing green sphere for a few seconds. _'Materia…'_

He quickly shoved it in his pocket and crossed the rest of the bridge. He stepped onto the large platform at the other side and stared up at the large machine in front of him.

"When we blow this place, this ain't gonna be nothin' more than a hunka junk." Barret yelled over to Cloud as he ran up to the machine. "Cloud, you set the bomb."

Cloud raised a brow at the request. "Shouldn't you do it?"

"Jus' do it! I gotta watch to make sure you don't pull nothin'."

Cloud shrugged. "Fine, be my guest."

Just as he was about to set the bomb his vision went black and the only thing he could here was a faint ringing.

'_Watch out!' _a voice said.

'_This isn't just a reactor!!'_

Suddenly his vision was back and he could hear the roar of the Reactor once again.

"……What's wrong?" Barret waved his hand in front of Cloud's face.

The blonde shook his head. "Huh?"

"What's wrong, Cloud? Hurry it up!"

"…Yeah, sorry." Cloud set the bomb on the machine and pressed a few buttons setting it for 10 minutes.

Alarms suddenly began to sound around the chamber.

"Heads up, here they come!" Barret turned around to get into a fighting stance when a giant robot scorpion clad in thick plates of red armor dropped down from the ceiling in front of them. The ground shook around them and the robot aimed the two machine guns on it's sides, straight at the intruders.

Barret opened fire on the beast and Cloud rolled out of the way just in time as a few bullets narrowly missed his head. The thing showered Barret in blue and yellow smoke, targeting him for it's next attack. It shot a single missile in his direction just missing him as he shot at another one of it's six metal legs.

Cloud shook his head and drew his massive Buster Sword. He sliced sideways at another one of it's legs, effectively taking the tip off. He repeated the same move on all of the legs, but even with Barret continuing to fire at it. It still wouldn't stop it's relentless attack.

'_normal attacks don't seem to be working well on it…'_ Cloud thought trying to figure out how to hurt this monster.

The scorpion lashed it's tail out at Barret, ripping a gash through his arm. The ex-SOLDIER caste bolt at the beast and rolled away as it flung it's tail out again, this time trying to hit him instead.

The scorpion finally stopped attacking and raised it's tail up, pointing at the two.

"Barret, be careful!" Cloud yelled over to Barret. "Attack while it's tail's up, It's gonna counterattack with its laser!" Cloud threw a potion over to Barret for his arm and waited for the scorpion to lower its tail back down.

A few minutes later it's tail finally went down and Cloud immediately cast another bolt at it, making smoke pour out of it's insides. Barret charged up a fireball from his gun and fired it in the direction of the beast. The shot distracted the scorpion from Cloud long enough for him to bring his sword down on it one last time.

The guard scorpion shook and convulsed as it backpedaled, and finally went over the railing, falling into the dark depths of the Reactor where it would disintegrate in the great pools of mako.


	2. Escape!

**Disclaimer=I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of it's characters.**

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**The alarms began to blare soon after, filling the entire reactor with its' deafening scream. Cloud across the bridge to Barret motioning for the man to follow him.**

**"Come on, let's get outta here!"**

**"Ten minutes to detonation!" An automated voice warned over the speakers.**

**The two men ran back down the narrow bridge. The air was thick and heavy with the smell of burning mako, making it extremely difficult for them to breathe. They raced back through the obstacle course of pipes and ladders up to the exit of the reactor, getting stopped constantly by grunts and 1st rays.**

**"You all right?" Cloud asked running over to Jessie who was stuck at the end of one of the catwalks.**

**"My leg got stuck," she said freeing her leg from the metal grate. "Thanks!"**

**The three headed up the rest of the ladders and climbed the endless flights of stairs with only minutes before the bomb would go off.**

**"Two minutes to detonation!" The alarms continued to sound throughout the reactor.**

**The group finally rushed outside and across the main bridge as the reactor started to crackle with electricity. Just as they escaped the bridge the reactor burst into flames and exploded, sending shockwaves all through out Midgar.**

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**

_**Beep Beep Beep. Beep. Beep.**_

**"That should keep the planet going… at least a little longer," Biggs sighed as they waited for Jessie to finish setting the bomb.**

**"Yeah." Wedge agreed, keeping a lookout just in case any Shinra troups were to pop up.**

**"OK! Now everyone get back," Jessie ordered as she finished with the timer.**

**AVALANCHE all ran back through the tunnel waiting for the bomb to go off which would clear them a path through the rubble.**

**The small charge went off blasting through the debris, shooting flames out of the exit along with the rest of AVALANCHE.**

**"All right, now let's get out of here," Barret ordered as soon as everyone was out of the tunnel and regrouped. "Rendezvous at Sector 8 station! Split up and get on the train!"**

**Just as he finished the command, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all ran off in their own separate directions, so they wouldn't seem too suspicious to anyone in the area who might be affiliated with Shinra.**

**"H, hey!" Cloud ran up to the leader.**

**"If it's about your money save it 'til we're back at the hideout," He said running up the stairs to the city.**

**Everything had soon turned to Chaos on Loveless Avenue as soon as the reactor had gone up. People were running around panicking over the situation, some even stealing things from stores while shop owners were busy trying to contact their families.**

**"Excuse me." A flower girl shyly walked up to the Ex-SOLDIER as he walked by a large pile of rubble that used to be the Loveless Theater. "What happened?"**

**Cloud thought for a moment trying to decide whether or not to tell the girl what had happened with the reactor. "Nothing…hey, listen… Don't see many flowers around here."**

**She looked down at her basket and picked up a white flower handing it to Cloud. "Oh, these? Do you like them? They're only a gil…?"**

**The blonde scratched his head in thought and reached out to take the flower handing her a gil piece in return.**

**"Oh, Thank you!" she bowed slightly and smiled giving him a small wave before walking off down the now ruined street.**

**Wires were broken everywhere, windows were broken in stores, and pieces of the reactor were lying around the road everywhere. Cloud walked quietly down an empty alleyway, heading towards the train station.**

**"Hey! You there!!" A few Shinra guards yelled over to him, most likely about to interrogate him about the blast.**

**Shinra guards suddenly started pouring in from all directions, machine guns blazing. They had him trapped on the bridge, nowhere to possibly run to without getting captured.**

**"That's as far as you go," One of the guards said as they all surrounded him in a tight circle.**

**"I don't have time to be messin around with you guys."**

**Just then the bridge began to shake and a loud whistle was heard. Cloud looked down briefly seeing that there were rails underneath the bridge that he hadn't seen before.**

**"Enough babbling…… Grab him!!" The guards all rushed forward as he jumped off the side of the bridge landing with a heavy thud on top of the train just as it passed by.**

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_**Inside the train**_

**"Cloud never came," Wedge whispered leaning against some boxes in the cargo hold.**

**Biggs looked up for a minute and sighed, "Cloud…… Wonder if he was killed?"**

**"No way!!" the man with the gun arm yelled.**

**"Cloud……," Jessie said quietly.**

**They all looked up briefly after hearing some loud pounding from the ceiling.**

**Biggs looked up again. "Say, do you think Cloud's…… Going to fight to the end for AVALANCHE!?"**

**"The hell would I know!? Do I look like a mind reader?" Barret answered gruffly and hit the metal box next to him. "Hmph!! If y'all weren't such screw-ups…"**

**"Hey, Barret! What about our money…?" Unfortunately for Wedge, this happened to be the wrong time for him to ask the question.**

**Barret hit the crate again.**

**"Uh, nothin'…sorry."**

**The loud pounding was heard a few more time before the door opened and Cloud came in doing his signature backflip. He always had to make a big entrance to a scene.**

**"Cloud!" everyone exclaimed happy to see the ex-SOLDIER again.**

**"Looks like I'm a little late."**

**Barret jumped up and waved his arms in the air. "You damn right, you're late!! Come waltzin' in here makin' a big scene!"**

**Cloud casually brushed a piece of hair out of his face and crossed his arms. "It's no big deal. Just what I always do."**

**"Shit! Havin' everyone worried like that. You don't give a damn 'bout no one but yourself!"**

**The spiky-haired blonde shrugged. "Hmm…… You were worried about me!"**

**Barret waved his arms around in frustration. "Wha!? I'm takin' it outta your money, hot stuff!" He moved to the front of the car and yelled to the others. "Wake up! We're movin' out! Follow me!" he ordered before moving to the next car ahead.**

**"Hey, Cloud!! You were great back there!" Wedge congratulated Cloud on the way out of the car.**

**"Heh heh……Cloud! We'll do even better next time," Biggs added.**

**Jessie walked up to the still open door of the car. "Be careful, I'll shut this." She turned around and nodded to the man. "Oh, Cloud!! Your face is pitch-black……," she said getting out a handkerchief and wiping the grease and dirt off his face. "There you go!" She walked a few steps towards the others but turned back to Cloud again, remembering she had to thank him. "Say, thanks for helping me back there at the Reactor!"**

'**Last train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 12:23AM, Midgar Standard Time…' the conductor announced over the loudspeaker. **

**Avalanche piled into the next car, getting many dirty looks from the other inhabitants of the car, who eventually decided to go to the next car up.**

"**This is why I hate the last train. Hoo-boy…" a Shinra employee on the train said to himself before exiting the car.**

**Cloud made his way down the cramped isle bumping into a man sleeping on one of the seats. "Huh…? This is my house, so make yourselves at home." The man said sleepily. Cloud nodded and headed down towards where Wedge and Jessie were standing.**

"**Hey, Cloud. You want to look at this with me?" Jessie pointed to a small screen mounted on the side of the car. "It's a map of the Midgar Rail System. Let's look at it together. I'll explain it to you. I like this kinda stuff. Bombs and monitors…you know, flashy stuff."**

**Jessie pressed a few buttons under the screen as Cloud moved in to take a closer look. "Okay, it's about to start." The screen then came to life showing a green 3D model. "This is a complete model of the city of Midgar. It's about a 1/10000 scale. The top plate is about 50 meters above ground. A main support structure holds the plate up in the center, and there are other support structures built in each section…"**

**Jessie looked around briefly to make sure no one was listening before adding another comment in a whisper. "The No. 1 Reactor we blew up was in the northern section. Then there's No. 2, No. 3 all the way up to the No. 8 Reactor. The 8 Reactors provide Midgar with electricity. Each town used to have a name, but no one in Midgar remembers them. Instead of names, we refer to them by numbered sectors. That's the kind of place this is." The girl paused for a minute to adjust the red headband on her forehead and sighed. "Phew…, this is next! Look."**

**The screen then zoomed out slightly to show a better view of the city. "This is the route this train is on." She explained as dots started to appear showing the route they were on around the city. "The route spirals around the main support structure. We should be coming around the center area, right now. At each checkpoint an ID sensor device is set up. It can check the identities and background on each and every passenger on the train by linking it up to the central data bank at Shinra headquarters." She then lowered her voice to a whisper again. "Anyone could tell that we look suspicious, so we're using fake ID's."**

**An alarm soon began to go off in the train and red lights started to flash all throughout the car. "Speak of the devil… That light means that we're in the ID Security Check area. When the lights go off, you never know what kind of creeps'll come out… anyhow, we're almost back now. That's a relief." **

**The lights then went off and Cloud headed over to Barret who was looking out one of the small dusty windows. "Look… you can see the surface now. This city don't have no day or night. If that plate weren't there… we could see the sky."**

**Cloud sat next to the man and looked out the window. "A floating city… Pretty unsettling scenery." He said, his mako blue eyes scanning the outside structures.**

**Barret rose from his seat and scratched his head in confusion. "Never expect ta hear that outta someone like you…you jes' full of surprises." He squeezed his way up to the front of the car where the rest of AVALANCHE was quietly waiting. "The upper world…a city on a plate… It's 'cuz of that &^#$# 'pizza', that people underneath are sufferin'! And the city below is full of polluted air. On topa that, the Reactor keeps drainin' up all the energy."**

**The blonde pushed a stray lock away from his face. "Then why doesn't everyone move onto the Plate?"**

"**Dunno. Probably 'cuz they ain't got no money. Or, maybe… Cuz they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets."**

**Cloud shook his head and turned to the window. "I know… no one lives in the slums because they want to. It's like this train. It can't run anywhere except where its rails take it."**

**The train skidded to a halt and stopped at the small rundown station. The doors opened and everyone including AVALANCHE poured out of the train.**

"**Yo!! Get over here, all'ya!!" Barret yelled to the rest of the group.**

**Everyone rushed over to form a small circle around the leader and listened in closely for what he had to say. "This mission was a success. But don't get lazy now. The hard part's still to come! Don't y'all be scared of that explosion! Cause the next one's gonna be bigger than that!"**

**Barret ran off towards the other direction. "Meet back at the hideout!! Move out!"**


	3. Tifa's Seventh Heaven

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

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AVALANCHE ran back to the small town in the slums to find Barret already in the bar firing his gun-arm at the ceiling, effectively clearing the place of customers. Cloud ran up to the wooden stairs where Barret was standing guard to make sure no one else went into the bar.

"Heh heh… you wanna meet your little baby?" The dark skinned man said with a laugh.

"Little baby?"

"Hey! Don' act like you don't know what I mean! I'm tellin' you…"

Cloud glared daggers at the man before he finally stepped aside. "Ok! Go on ahead."

The ex-SOLDIER entered the small space to find the rest of AVALANCHE stuffing their faces and drinking all the alcohol they could get their hands on.

"Papa!!" A small girl around the age of 4 in a purple dress jumped off one of the bar stools to greet the new arrival, only to find out it wasn't who she thought it was. The girl ran off into the corner embarrassed and crying.

"Marlene! Aren't you going to say anything to Cloud?" The young bar tender ran up to her trying to comfort the girl. She finally stopped crying after a minute and hugged her.

"Welcome home, Cloud. Looks like everything went well." She greeted the man walking over to him, Marlene following close behind. "Did you fight with Barret?"

Cloud shrugged. "Yeah."

"I should have known. He's always pushing people around, and you've always been in fights ever since you were little." Tifa shook her head and sighed. "I was worried." She looked over the man again and noticed he had some flowers in his pocket. "Flowers? How nice…You almost never see them here in the slums. But… A flower for me? Oh Cloud, you shouldn't have…"

Cloud shook his head and handed the flower to Marlene. "No big."

Just then loud stomping was heard outside and Barret rushed into the bar pushing Cloud out of the way.

"Papa, welcome home!"

"Yeah." Barret picked up the girl and set her on his shoulder after giving her a big hug.

"Huh? Where'd you get that flower?" He asked.

"Cloud gave it to me." She answered shyly smiling at Cloud.

"Oh…… Did you thank him?"

Marlene shook her head and looked back at Cloud. "Thank you, Cloud. We'll take care of you."

"You all right, Barret?" Tifa asked wiping down the bar with a wet rag.

"Great!! Get in here, fools!! We're startin' the meetin'!!" he yelled stepping on the platform in front of the pinball machine. He pressed a button on the side making it start to descend to the hideout below the bar. The rest of AVALANCHE quickly followed but Cloud stayed behind.

Tifa motioned to him from the bar. "Sit down."

Cloud got up on one of the green bar stools and propped his chin on one arm.

"How about…Something to drink?" she asked retrieving a glass from underneath the bar.

"Give me something hard," he replied lazily.

"Just a minute. I'll make one for you," she said getting out a bottle and pouring it into the small glass. "You know, I'm relieved you made it back safely."

The man took a sip of the drink and sighed. "What's with you all of a sudden? That wasn't even a tough job."

Tifa leaned back against the other side of the bar and stared down at her shoes. "I guess not… You were in SOLDIER." She thought for a minute and looked up again suddenly remembering something. "Make sure you get your pay from Barret."

Cloud took another sip. "Don't worry. Once I get that money, I'm outta here." He quickly finished up the drink and got up, walking over to the pinball machine.

"Cloud. Are you feeling all right?"

"…yeah… Why?"

Tifa chewed on a piece of hair, a nervous habit she had had since she was a small child. "No reason. You just look a little tired I guess.

Cloud shrugged, stepped onto the pinball machine elevator and pressed the button. Biggs and Wedge were sitting at the metal table in the back discussing something about the next mission. Jessie was sitting at the computer most likely hacking into some sort of system. The ex-SOLDIER squeezed through the cramped space and walked over to the back where Barret was busy pummeling a punching bag.

"Yo, Cloud! There's somethin' I wanna ask ya." Barret briefly stopped trying to destroy the bag. "Was there anyone from SOLDIER fighting us today?"

Cloud rested his chin on his hand and thought for a minute. He finally shook his head and replied, "None. I'm positive."

Barret punched the back again. "You sound pretty sure."

"If there was anyone from SOLDIER you wouldn't be standing here now."

The leader crossed his arms and frowned. "Don't go thinkin' you so bad jes cuz you was in SOLDIER." He made a move to attack Cloud but was held back by Biggs. Cloud walked away and looked down at the ground, obviously not paying attention to the man at all. Biggs however, soon got thrown into the wall by Barret, landing on the floor with a solid thump.

"Yeah, you're strong," the taller man admitted. "Probably all them guys in SOLDIER are. But don't forget that your skinny ass's workin' for AVALANCHE now! Don't get no ideas 'bout hangin' on to Shinra."

Now it was Cloud's turn to be mad. "Stayin' with Shinra? You asked me a question and I answered it… that's all," he said clenching his fists. He walked over to Barret and stood up straight, staring the taller man dead in the eye. "I'm going upstairs. I want to talk about my money."

Just as Cloud turned around to head upstairs Tifa ran down and stopped him. "Wait, Cloud!"

"Tifa! Let him go!" Barret yelled. "Looks like he still misses the Shinra!"

"Shut up!" Cloud turned to face the other man. "I don't care about either Shinra or SOLDIER!" He walked over to the pinball machine and turned to face others. "But don't get me wrong! I don't care about AVALANCHE or the Planet for that matter!" He then pressed the button and headed up to the next floor leaving Barret to take out his anger on the punching bag.

Just as Cloud was about to exit the bar Tifa ran up and grabbed his arm, trying to stop him from leaving. "Listen, Cloud. I'm asking you. Please join us."

Cloud shook his head and started walking again. "Sorry Tifa…"

"The Planet is dying. Slowly but surely it's dying." She pleaded, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Someone has to do something."

Cloud turned to face her and shrugged. "So let Barret and his buddies do something about it. It's got nothin' to do with me." He then turned again and started to head out the door.

"So! You're really leaving!?" She placed her hands on her hips glared at the man. "You're just going to walk right out ignoring your childhood friend!?"

"What……?…….sorry."

She then put her hands behind her back and winked. "……You forgot the promise, too."

"Promise?" Cloud cocked his head to the side and knitted his brows together in confusion.

"So you DID forget. Remember……Cloud. It was seven years ago…"

Cloud crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling trying to remember.

_Flashback_

They both remembered a small town with a bright starry sky and a large wooden well right in the middle.

"Look, the well. Do you remember?"

Cloud nodded, the memories flooding back into his mind. "Yeah…back then. I thought you would never come, and I was getting a little cold."

Cloud was sitting on the well swinging his legs back and worth. The cold air enveloped his skin and sent shivers throughout his body.

"_Sorry I'm late." Tifa climbed up the other side of the well and sat next to him. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something?_

_Cloud looked up at the moonlit sky and sighed heavily. "Come this spring… I'm leaving this town for Midgar."_

"…_All boys are leaving our town."_

_Cloud shook his head. "But I'm different from all of them. I'm not just going to find a job." He then got up and faced his friend standing in a heroic pose. "I want to join SOLDIER. I'm going to be the best there is, just like Sephiroth!"_

_Tifa looked down at the ground. "Sephiroth… The Great Sephiroth."_

_Cloud climbed to the very top of the well and hung off the side looking down at Tifa with a boyish grin._

"_Isn't it hard too join SOLDIER?" she asked suddenly, pulling her legs up to her body to keep warm._

_Cloud's smile quickly turned into a frown. "…I probably won't be able to come back to this town for a while."_

_Tifa started laughing softly._

"…_huh?"_

"_Will you be in the newspapers if you do well?"_

_The boy nodded. "I'll try."_

"_Hey, why don't we make a promise? Umm, if you get really famous and I'm ever in a bind…… You come save me, all right?"_

_Cloud jumped back. "What?"_

_Tifa blushed and looked down at her feet. "Whenever I'm in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once."_

"_What?"_

"_Come on--! Promise me----!"_

_Cloud nodded and smiled again. "All right……I promise."_

_Just then they both looked up and a shooting star flew overhead._

_End of flashback_

"You remember now, don't you… our promise?" Tifa asked.

Cloud shook his head and frowned. "I'm not a hero and I'm not famous. I can't keep……the promise."

Tifa moved closer to him and smiled. "But you got your childhood dream, didn't you? You joined SOLDIER."

Cloud scratched his head, obviously defeated.

"So come on! You've got to keep your promise……"

Just then, Barret climbed up the elevator wires and jumped up to meet Cloud and Tifa. "Wait a sec big-time SOLDIER! A promise is a promise! Here!!" He then reached into his vest pocket and threw some money over to Cloud.

"This is my pay? Don't make me laugh." Cloud looked over the 1500 gil and recounted it a second time.

"What? Then you'll…!!" Tifa said worriedly, afraid that Cloud would leave after all.

"You got the next mission lined up? I'll do it for 3000."

Barret's mouth dropped open. "What……!?"

Tifa patted him on the shoulder. "It's ok, it's ok. We're really hurting for help, right?" She whispered to the man hoping Cloud wouldn't hear.

"That money's for Marlene's schoolin'……," he whispered back to her. He then walked back to the pinball machine and glared back at Cloud. "2000!"

Tifa walked back over to the blonde. "Thanks, Cloud."


	4. Mako Reactor No 5

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII does not belong to me in any way.

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The next day

Cloud woke up with a backache from sleeping against a metal pipe in the hide out. He jumped up from his spot and stretched his arms up yawning loudly. He ran a gloved hand through his mess of spiky blond hair and made his way over to the pinball machine, pressing the button to ascend to the next floor. When he made it to the bar, Tifa, Barret, and Marlene were already there waiting for him.

"Our target's the Sector 5 Reactor. Head for the station first." Barret ordered Cloud while tapping his foot. "I'll fill you in on the train." The dark skinned man uncrossed his arms about ready to leave when he thought of something else. "Yo! Cloud! Before the next mission, I got somethin' I wanna ask you! I, uh, ……I don't really know how to use Materia! I'll give you that Materia you found. Just teach me how to use it!"

Cloud sighed and rested his hand on his hip. "Ok, I'll explain it." He picked up his Buster Sword and set it on the table pointing at the slots in the handle. "Each weapon and armor has slots in it. You put the Materia in one of the slots and now you can cast it in battle. The Materia we picked up before is a Cure Materia. See, it wasn't that tough!"

Barret huffed and crossed his arms. "Shi……! What's this 'It wasn't that tough! Crap! I'm clueless……Well, you handle the Materia then!"

"I'm going this time." Tifa said suddenly, turning to Cloud. "Oh, I got a message from the Weapon Shop man upstairs. He has something he wants to give you. Don't forget!" Tifa walked over to the bar and gave Marlene a quick hug. "Marlene, you watch the store while we're gone!"

"All right!! Good Luck." Yelled back to them as they walked out of the bar.

Cloud ran into the weapons store and was stopped buy the man behind the metal fence like shop. "He, HEY! Waitaminit you!! You can't just walk outta here without buyin' somethin'… Might be unhealthy fer ya, if ya know what I mean." Much to Cloud's disappointment the man practically forced him into buying a few iron bangles.

The three ran out of the town and followed the sandy paths over to the train station where Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were already waiting for them. All six members of AVALANCHE entered the train and took up all of the seats that were empty.

Barret stood up in the middle of the car and motioned to the others. "YO! Looks like this ain't no private car!! So split up!!" At that Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie all ran up to the next car to find more seats there.

"…hoodlums again. God, don't I just have all the luck…," a man in a dark red suit at the front of the car said to himself. The man walked over and took a seat next to the window as Barret ran to the front of the car, taking his place.

"You say sumthin'?" Barret asked the man threateningly, but got no response. "I said, 'you say sumthin'!?" The leader of AVALANCHE walked up to the man, looming over him. "Yo, look at that!! It got empty alluva sudden. What's goin' on?"

The man tapped his foot nervously and shook in fear. "DAMN!!" he scratched his head. "I…it's empty because of…g, guys like you…"

Barret hit the seat next to the man making him jump up. "Y, Y, YIPES!! You… you've seen the news, right? AVALANCHE says there'll be more bombings. Only devoted employees like me would go to Midgar on a day like today."

Barret jumped back and pointed his gun-arm at the man. "You workin' for Shinra?"

The man cowered down in fear. "I won't give in to violence… and I'm not giving you my seat either!"

Tifa ran up to Barret and pushed his arm down. "Barret!!"

"&$#%!! You lucky ^$#^$!"

Tifa bowed politely to the man and ran to the back with Cloud, pulling Barret behind her.

"So, what are we gonna do now?" Cloud asked quietly.

"Shit! The hell you so calm about? You bustin' up my rhythm…," Barret said still shaking in anger.

The train whistled and started to rumble.

"Seems like they just finished connecting the cars. We're finally leaving." Tifa said while sitting down on one of the dark green lumpy seats next to Cloud.

"So what's our next target?" Cloud asked Barret who was still fuming.

"Hah! Listen to Mr. Serious-about-his-work!" he replied with a sarcastic laugh. "Awright…I'll tell ya! Jessie's probably already told you, but there's a security check point at the top plate. It's an ID scan system checkin' all the trains."

"Which Shinra is very proud of," Tifa added.

"We can't use our fake ID's anymore…"

'_Good Morning, and welcome to Midgar lines. Arrival time at Sector 4 station will be 11:45'_ an automated voice said over the speaker.

"That means we've got only three more minutes to the ID Check point."

"Alright, in three minutes, we're jumpin' off this train. Got it!?" Barret yelled across the car before plopping himself down on the seat.

"Cloud, come over here! Let's look at the Railway Map Monitor." Cloud ran up to the front of the car where Tifa was and looked up at the monitor. "Hmm, it looks like you've seen this already… It's all right. Come a little closer."

Just as the monitor was about ready to turn on, red lights started flashing throughout the train. Alarms started to sound throughout the train.

"That's odd. The ID Check Point was supposed to be further down." Tifa looked around confused.

'Type A Security Alert!!''Repeat!! Type A Security Alert!!''Unidentified passengers confirmed… A search of all cars will be conducted!'

"What's happening?"

"What's goin' on!!" Barret turned to Cloud.

Jessie ran to their car. "We're in trouble. I'll explain later. Hurry! Get to the next car!"

"^%#%! Someone blew it…"

'_Unidentified passengers located in Car #1 Preparing for Lock Down.'_

Barret ran to the next car. "Let's go! Keep it up!" Cloud and Tifa followed but the sirens still continued.

'Car #1: Locked Down. Upgrading to Level 2 Warning!'

"Hurry!" Biggs motioned for them to go to the next car.

"They're gonna lock the door, sir!" Wedge yelled worriedly to Barret.

'Unidentified passengers located in Car #2. Preparing for Lock Down!'

"Just run!" Jessie yelled speeding towards the next car. Cloud and Tifa followed close behind. "Changing to Plan 2!"

'Car #2: Locked down. Upgrading to Warning Level 3!'

The lights and sirens finally stopped for the time being.

"Awright! We clear!?" Barret asked the rest of the breathing heavily from all of the running.

"Not yet. They're starting another check. If we're caught, we're done for!" Jessie informed them. "But, don't worry. If we move up the train, car by car, we should get past it!"

Just then alarms resumed.

'_Unidentified Passengers: Moving to front of Train. Currently tracking location.'_

Cloud and the others quickly made their way to the next car.

'Car #3: Locked Down. Upgrading to Warning Level 4'

They got through to the next car just in time as the 4th one locked down.

'_Car #4: Locked Down. Upgrading to maximum security alert!!'_

Barret ran to the front of the last car. "All right!! We made it! Yo!! This way!!" He pried the door open, the wind blowing into the cabin forcefully. "Let's go!! We're gonna dive outta here!!"

A Shinra guard tapped Cloud on the shoulder and snickered. "It's me, Jessie. How do I look, Cloud? Do I look good in a Shinra uniform?"

"…you look great, just like a man." Cloud answered dully."

"Yay!! I'm so happy…I think?"

Cloud shrugged and turned to Tifa.

"…Scary…huh?" She said in a worried tone.

"Too late to be saying that now. Why'd you come along anyway?"

"Because…"

Barret waved his arms in the air for attention. "Hey you two! There ain't no time for that!"

Tifa cautiously walked over to the front of the door. "Yeah!! I've made up my mind! Watch closely. I'm gonna jump!!" She then blindly leapt out of the train, hoping she might land on something soft enough to break her fall.

"You don't care if I go first?" Cloud yelled over to Barret, preparing for the jump.

"A leader always stays till the end. Don't worry 'bout me, just go!" He yelled back, fighting to stand up, due to the wind that was pushing him down. "Yo! Don't go gettin' your spikey-ass hurt! It's only the beginnin' of the mission!"

Cloud shrugged and jumped out of the train.

Barret yelled over to the other three members who were all disguised. "Later! You take care of the rest!"


	5. Mako Reactor No 5 part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way. Read and Review people ^.^

* * *

Cloud pulled himself up off the metal tracks and brushed the dirt and grease off his pants. He hadn't suffered much injury from the jump, save for a few bruises and small scratches. The other two seemed to be in much the same shape.

"Good, so far everything's going as planned," Barret said starting to walk off in the other direction. "Better not let your guard down till we get to the Sector 5 reactor. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie got everything ready for us. So MOVE it."

Cloud and Tifa ran past Barret, heading in the direction of the fifth Mako Reactor. "Well, the reactor's just down this tunnel!" Barret yelled over to them and started to follow.

The entrance to the next part of the tunnel was lined with thick green bars of light. "Those light beams are the Shinra's security sensors. We can't go any further," Cloud informed the other two. He scanned the small space to try to find a way to get past the sensors when he found a small square opening on the side of the wall.

"That's one damn tiny hole. You tellin' me to squeeze into that to get under the Plate? No way!" Barret yelled taking a closer look at the air vent. "Yo, Cloud, what're we gonna do?"

Tifa looked closer at it. "…There seems to be nothing that'll get us stuck in this duct."

Cloud looked back up at the two of them. "Yeah. If we go down this duct, we won't be able to come back up here."

Barret paced back and forth a few times and waved his arms around. "Don't be wastin' time. Never know when the Shinra'll find us. Cloud, you jes' gotta go. But, damn man, that thing gives me the chills."

Cloud nodded and started to climb down the duct feet first, followed by Tifa and then finally Barret. They all dropped down into another duct and found a ladder that went down. The next couple of ladders eventually lead down to a rusty metal platform with several different ladders all going up to different places. Wooden crates were strewn everywhere and the very little light that there was, was barely enough to illuminate the entire platform.

Cloud headed up the tallest ladder and crawled through the air ducts. When he finally made it out he met Jessie at another smaller platform that seemed to connect to even more ducts.

"I'm sorry." Jessie stared down at her feet when Cloud approached the rebel. "The ID scan problem on the train was all my fault. I made your ID card special…… So that's why it happened… I put my heart into making it. But I failed." Jessie shook her head and sat down in the corner mumbling to herself.

Cloud shrugged and frowned at her, before running off in the other direction towards the only ladder in the area. The metal rungs were slippery with grease and oil and the stuffiness of the room made more difficult to breath by the second.

He carefully made his way down to the bottom and ran across the metal grate pathway, Tifa and Barret following close behind.

Biggs greeted them once they got to the end of the platform where the last ladder was. "We're gonna pull out now. We'll meet up at the hideout. Cloud, we're countin' on you to blow the reactor!" he said before running off in the other direction, leaving Cloud, Tifa, and Barret to destroy the reactor.

They climbed up the final ladder and found themselves in a very similar area filled with stairs and ladders just like the other reactor they blew up. Cloud found a metal chute that led all the way to the bottom and got inside it, sliding all the way to the bottom floor of the room.

The three maneuvered through the pipes and ladders that were just like those that the last reactor had. There didn't seem to be as many roboguards in this reactor, despite the fact that AVALANCHE had warned Shinra that their would be more bombings.

They finally got to the bridge leading to the machine that controlled the entire reactor. Halfway through the bridge when Cloud blacked out and fell to his knees…

_Flashback_

"Papa…" Tifa knelt down next to her fallen father, tears rolling down her face. "Sephiroth!?" The girl stood up slowly, the emotions on her face quickly turning into anger and hate. "Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!?" She fell back to her knees and held her face in her hands. "Sephiroth…SOLDIER…Mako Reactors…Shinra…Everything! I hate them all!" She yelled out, picking up the huge sword next to her and running into the reactor.

End of flashback

"Damn man, get a hold of yourself!" Barret yelled shaking Cloud, trying to wake up the man.

"You all right?"

Tifa's face came into view as Cloud's eyes began to refocus themselves. "……Tifa."

Tifa cocked her head, her eyes filled with concern. "Mmm?"

Cloud raised himself up and shook his head, regaining his senses. "No… forget…… Come on, let's hurry!"

Tifa walked up to the machine with Cloud and watched with interest as he stuck the bomb to its frame and set it. He pressed the last button and they all ran towards the ladders and climbed to the top of the reactor as fast as they possibly could. They made it to the very top where they found a control room with three computers.

"Jessie said we all have to push the button at once." Tifa told the other two pointed out the right button on the consol for each of them. "On the count of three…1…2…3!" They all pressed the button but the door still didn't open. "No good. Let's try it again."

The next two tries were also failures but after the fourth one the door finally opened with a loud screech. The resistance seemed to be getting heavier as they got closer and closer to the bridge outside of the reactor. More and more guard hounds stopped them every minute.

"This way!" Barret yelled when they got to the intersection on the bridge outside the reactor. He started to run towards the left side but was stopped by a group of men clad in dark red uniforms. "Shinra soldiers!? SHIT! What the hell's goin' on?"

Cloud got into a defensive position and drew his sword. "…a trap…"

Footsteps suddenly began to echo from within the reactor. A chubby man with blond curls and a red suit walked slowly onto the bridge the three had just come from.

Barrets eyes widened in realization as the man walked closer and closer. "Presi…President Shinra?"

Tifa stood behind Cloud ready for a fight if there was need. "Why is the President here?" She asked glaring at the man.

The president cleared his throat loudly and stopped his advance. "Hmm… So you all must be that……what was it?"

Barret waved his arms in the air yelled at the man. "AVALANCHE! And don't ya forget it! And you're president Shinra, huh?"

Cloud took a few steps towards the president and glared at him angrily. "Long time no see, President."

"…Long time no see? Oh… you. You're the one who quit SOLDIER and joined AVALANCHE. I knew you'd been exposed to Mako, from the look in you eyes… Tell me, traitor… what was your name?"

"Cloud."

"Forgive me for asking, but I can't be expected to remember each person's name. Unless you become another sephiroth. Yes, Sephiroth… He was brilliant. Perhaps too brilliant…"

Cloud took a step back. "Sephiroth……?"

Barret ran ahead of Cloud and aimed his gunarm at the man. "Don't give a 'bout none of that! This place's goin' up with a big BANG soon! Serves y'all right!"

The president let out a deep laugh. "And such a waste of good fireworks, just to get rid of vermin like you…"

"VERMIN!? That's all you can say…VERMIN! Y'all Sinra're the VERMIN, killing the planet! And that makes you King VERMIN! So Shu'up jackass!"

President Shinra yawned, "…You are beginning to bore me. I'm a very busy man, so if you'll excuse me… I have a dinner I must attend."

Barret ran forward closing most of the distance between the two. "Dinner!? Don't gimme that! I ain't even started wit' you yet!"

The president smiled a wicked grin. "But, I've made arrangements for a playmate for you all." He lifted up his hand and snapped.

"!? What's that noise?" Tifa looked around trying to find the source of the loud buzzing that seemed to be getting closer.

"The hell is this!?" Barret yelled as a large humanoid robot hovered above them.

"Meet 'Airbuster', a techno-soldier. Our Weapon Development Department created him. I'm sure the data he'll extract from your dead bodies will be of great use to us in future experiments."

Cloud stared at the thing scrutinizing every detail, already looking for a weakness. "…Techno-soldier?

"Now then, if you'll excuse me." A helicopter suddenly hovered next to the man and threw a ladder down to him.

"Wait, President!" Cloud yelled to him but it was too late.

"Yo, Cloud! We've gotta do somethin' 'bout him!"

The Airbuster advanced on Barret and Tifa forcing them to the edge. "Help, Cloud!" Tifa yelled out to the ex-SOLDIER. "THIS is from SOLDIER?"

"No way! It's just a machine." Cloud yelled back to her drawing his sword.

"I don't care what it is!! I'm gonna bust him up!" Barret aimed his gunarm at the robot ready to fire.

'_It's a robot just like the scorpion was… just maybe it'll have the same weaknesses as it did.'_ Cloud thought to himself ready to cast bolt at the techno-soldier. Barret fired at it from behind and Tifa followed up with a quick double punch to the engine in the back. The Airbuster tackled Tifa knocking her down.

Cloud shoved his sword into it's back while it was vulnerable, only to be shot in the leg by guns that were hidden in the back.

"Hey, Cloud! Catch!" Barret threw a potion over to Cloud. Barret and Tifa continued their attack on the Airbuster, as Cloud stuggled to drink down the vile tasting drink, even though it immediately stopped the bleeding of his leg and took away most of the pain.

The techno-soldier just wouldn't give up. No matter how many spells they cast at it or how much they shot, it wouldn't go down. Tifa finally unleashed a flurry of punches on the robot causing it to shake and malfunction. Bolts of electricity shot out from it's frame. It finally exploded into flames taking a piece of the bridge with it. Cloud slipped and fell holding onto the edge of the now broken bridge.

"It's gonna blow! Let's go, Tifa!" Barret pulled Tifa up from the bridge.

"Barret! Can't you do something?" She said staring at Cloud who was holding on by one arm now.

"Not a damn thing." Barret replied.

"Cloud! Please don't die! You can't die! There's still so much I want to tell you!" Tifa yelled over to Cloud almost in tears.

"I know, Tifa……" He said trying to get his other arm up to the ledge.

"Hey, You gonna be awright?" Barret asked Cloud with genuine concern.

"……You worry about yourselves! I'm all right, but take care of Tifa!" Cloud yelled back with barely enough strength to hold on.

"…Alright. Sorry 'bout all this."

"Stop talkin' like this is the end!"

"Alright, then, later." Barret said pulling Tifa ,who was in tears, away from the ledge. Just then the bridge began to rumble and Reactor exploded sending Cloud falling off the ledge.


	6. Flowers

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII.

Read and Review everyone ^.^

* * *

_'……You all right?'_

_'……Can you hear me?'_

"……Yeah……" Cloud replied. There was black everywhere. His entire body was numb. For all he knew he could've been dead.

'_Back then……You could get by with just skinned knees……'_the same voice from before echoed within his mind.

"……What do you mean by 'back then'?"

_'What about now? Can you get up?'_

"……What do you mean by 'that time'?……What about now?"

_'……Don't worry about me. You just worry about yourself now.'_

"……I'll give it a try."

"**Oh! It moved!"** Another voice that was farther away exclaimed.

_'……How about that?'_

Cloud struggled to open his eyes, but the only thing he could manage was to move his fingers.

_'Take it slow now. Little by little……'_

"……I know." Cloud replied regaining movement of his arms.

"**Hello, hello?" **it was that same voice again. The far off one. Was it talking to him?

"Hey…who are you?" Cloud asked.

"**Hello, hello!"**

Cloud's eyes finally focused and fluttered open. A bright light shone in his blur orbs however immediately causing him to close them again. He sat up slowly and looked around seeing that he was in a bed of bright yellow and white flowers.

"You okay?"

Cloud looked behind him to find the same flower girl that he had bought flowers from in sector 8.

"This is a church in the Sector 5 slums. It suddenly fell on top of me. You really gave me a scare," she explained looking down at him with concern in her emerald green eyes.

"……I came crashing down?" Cloud asked still trying to remember everything that had happened.

The girl nodded. "The roof and the flower bed must have broken your fall. You're lucky."

Cloud shook his head. "Flower bed……is this yours?" He suddenly jumped up and stepped off the flowers, making sure he didn't crush any of them. "Sorry about that."

The girl shrugged inspecting the flowers. "That's all right. The flowers here are quite resilient because this is a sacred place." She walked off a few steps her back turned to Cloud. "They say you can't grow grass and flowers in Midgar. But for some reason, the flowers have no trouble blooming here. I love it here."

Cloud shrugged as the girl walked back over to the flowerbed and started to arranged them neatly. "……So, we meet again," she said not stopping with her work.

Thinking, Cloud turned his back to her.

"……Don't you remember me?"

"Yeah, I remember, you were selling flowers."

The flower girl held her hands to her chest and smiled happily. "Oh! I'm so happy! Thanks for buying my flowers. Say, do you have any materia?" She suddenly asked going back to tending to the flowers.

"Yes, some," Cloud said giving her a strange expression. "Nowadays you can find materia anywhere."

The girl let out a small laugh and pulled a tiny white orb from the top of her braid. "But mine is special. It's good for absolutely nothing," she said showing the Materia to Cloud.

The blonde scratched his head a little confused by the strange girl. "……good for nothing? You probably just don't know how to use it."

The girl shook her head. "No, I do……it just doesn't do anything. I feel safe just having it. It was my mother's……" She looked up at the sky as if she remembered something important and shook her head. "Say, I feel like talking. Do you feel up to it? After all, here we are meeting again, right?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't mind."

The flower girl smiled warmly and held out a finger as if to say just a minute. "Wait here. I've got to check my flowers. It'll just be a minute."

The girl took a few steps back and scanned the flowers, swaying back and forth happily. She then skipped over to the other side of the bed and knelt down fixing some of the flowers that were bent.

Cloud walked up to the girl and watched her quietly as she continued her work.

"Just a little longer." She said before standing up with a startled expression. "Oh! Now that you mention it…… We don't know each other's names, do we? I'm Aeris, the flower girl. Nice to meet you."

Cloud smirked and got into his signature pose. "The name's Cloud. Me……? I do a little bit of everything."

"Oh…… a jack of all trades." Aeris began to laugh softly.

"Yeah, I do whatever's needed." Cloud raised a brow at the girl. "What's so funny? What are you laughing at?"

Aeris shook her head. "Sorry……I just. Sorry, bad timing on my part."

They heard faint footsteps. Both looked over at the church doors to find a man in a dark blue suit with flaming red hair.

Cloud started to approach the man, but Aeris took it in the wrong way. "Cloud! Don't let it get to you!"

With a questioning face, Cloud shrugged and walked back over to the girl. Worry shown in her eyes.

"Say, Cloud. Have you ever been a bodyguard? You DO do everything, right?" she asked, worry seeping through her voice.

The blonde scratched his head nervously. "……Yeah, that's right."

"Then, get me out of here. Take me home."

Cloud thought for a minute and nodded. "OK, I'll do it… but it'll cost you."

"Well then, let's see……" Aeris rested her chin on her hand and looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. "How about if I go out with you once?" She asked with a smile.

Cloud nodded, scratched his head, and turned to the man on the other side of the church. "I don't know who you are, but……" the ex-SOLDIER shook his head. "You don't know me……?"

'……_I know you.' _The voice within his mind hissed. His vision flashed before him and all at once he knew who the intruder was.

Cloud took a few steps towards the man. "Oh yeah……I know you. That uniform……" He glared at the man with the stupid grin standing before him.

"……Hey sis, this one's a little weird." The man said, amusement written all over his sharp features. Three low ranked guards joined him, snickering quietly to themselves.

"Shut up! You Shinra spy!" Cloud took a step forward and drew his sword.

One of the guards turned to the leader and laughed obnoxiously. "Reno! Want him taken out?"

The red head smirked. "I haven't decided yet."

Aeris ran up behind Cloud and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!" She then took Clouds hand and made a break for an exit in the back of the church. "The exit is back there."

Reno walked through the flowers heading towards the exit, the other three guards stayed where they were. "They were……Mako eyes," he said to himself quietly. "Yeah, all right. Back to work, back to work." He yelled over to the guards who were still laughing hysterically.

"Oh!" Reno ran back onto the flowerbed. "And don't step on the flowers……"

"Hey Reno, you just stepped on them!"

"They're all ruined!"

"You're gonna catch holy hell!"

The guards all yelled, practically rolling on the floor.

Cloud and Aeris made it to the back of the dilapidated church. Most of the floor was gone, half of the stairs were broken off, and a huge metal pole was coming out of the ground and went through the ceiling. They had jumped over to the stairs and climbed halfway up when Reno and the three guards finally caught up with them.

"There they are, over there!" Reno shouted and pointed up at the two.

"Cloud…that one!"

Cloud nodded as they came to another broken piece of floorboard that they would have to jump across. "I know. Looks like they aren't going to let us go."

"What should we do?" She asked, scared that Reno would catch up with them.

"Well we can't let them catch us, can we? Then there's only one thing left." Cloud smirked and jumped across the gap with little effort motioning for Aeris to follow. "Aeris! This way!"

Aeris walked up to the gap and shook her head, seeing that she couldn't possibly jump the same distance that Cloud could.

"All right. I'll hold them off."

"Right. Make sure they don't get through!"

Reno yelled from the bottom floor. "The Ancient is getting away! Attack! Attack!"

The guards immediately started firing up at the two making Aeris slip and slide down the metal pole that went through the church.

"Aeris!" Cloud watched in horror as she fell all the way to the bottom floor, giving Reno more of a chance at getting to her.

"Think we killed 'em? They shouldn't have put up a fight. I say!" Reno laughed thinking he had already won this fight.

"Cloud, help!" Aeris yelled as one of the guards started running towards her.

The blonde shook his head and leaned over the wooden platform to get a better view of where Aeris was. "Damn!" He looked around the entire area until he spotted some barrels on the small wooden platforms a floor above. "What's that……? Aeris! Hold on a minute!" He yelled down to the girl and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. He balanced on the small beams that lined the floor and made his way to one of the barrels on the left side. _'Here's a barrel. If I can just push it over……,' _he thought quickly, a plan forming in his head.

He used all of his strength and shoved the barrel over the ledge. The barrel fell and hit the guard that was after Aeris flat on the head knocking him out permanently.

"Thanks, Cloud." Aeris said to herself smiling.

Cloud situated himself next to one of the other barrels and waited till Aeris would need his help.

"Eaygh!!"

Cloud looked down and found Aeris being cornered by the second guard. He did the same, pushing the barrel over and hitting the man in the head knocking him out as well.

Aeris ran as fast as she could up the flight of stairs, looked back and found that the third guard was pursuing her. The guard in the blue uniform was only feet away when yet another barrel fell from the sky and knocked him off the stairs.

The girl finally made it back to the gap and put the last of her energy into the jump. She just barely made it and ended up scraping her knees upon the landing but at least she was safe. She got up, brushed off her pink dress, and ran up the stairs meeting Cloud on the narrow pathways.

"Aeris, this way." Cloud took Aeris' hand and ran across the narrow boards that made up part of the frame of the ceiling. They found a large hole in the roof and climbed through, finally escaping the Shinra spy.


	7. Sector 5 Slums

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. Read and Review ^.^

* * *

"Ha, ha…… They're looking for me again." Aeris said, sitting on the roof. She swung her legs back and forth and stared at the ground below them.

Cloud sat down next to her and crossed his legs. "You mean it's not the first time they've been after you?"

Aeris shook her head and sighed. "…no."

Cloud gave her a concerned look. "They're the Turks."

"Hmmm……," the girl appeared to be in deep thought.

"The Turks are an organization in Shinra. They scout for possible candidates for SOLDIER."

Aeris looked up and frowned. "This violently? I thought they were kidnapping someone."

The ex-SOLDIER scratched his head. "They're also involved in a lot of dirty stuff on the side. Spying, murder…you know."

"They look like it."

"But, why're they after you? There must be a reason, right?"

The girl thought for a minute. Her eyes suddenly brightened and she looked over excitedly at Cloud. "No, not really. I think they believe I have what it takes to be in SOLDIER!"

The man shrugged, a smirk plastered to his face. "Maybe you do. You want to join?"

"I don't know… But I don't want to get caught by THOSE people!"

Clouded nodded. "Then, let's go!" he said taking off, running along the walls of junk and roofs of houses.

"Wait… Wait, I said!" Aeris yelled trying to catch up to Cloud. She finally climbed up the roof where Cloud was puffing and wheezing from exhaustion. "Slow……down…Don't leave me……"

"Funny…," Cloud said pushing a blonde lock out of his face. "I thought you were cut out to be in SOLDIER?"

Aeris immediately stood up straight. She crossed her arms and glared at him menacingly. "Oh! You're terrible!"

They both tried to keep a straight face, but ended up laughing.

"Hey……Cloud. Were you…ever in SOLDIER?"

"……I used to be. How did you guess?"

Aeris got closer to his face and examined his eyes carefully. "…Your eyes. They have a strange glow…"

"That's the sign of those who have been infused with Mako… A mark of SOLDIER. But, how did you know about that?"

Aeris smiled weakly. "……Oh, nothing."

"Nothing…?" Cloud raised a brow at the girl.

She smiled again and nodded her head quickly. "Right, nothing! Come on, let's go! Bodyguard!"

They continued their way across the roofs. Finally they jumped down off the last of the makeshift metal structures. Dust rose up from the ground as Cloud landed on the dirt road.

"Whew! Finally made it off! Now what…" Aeris looked over at Cloud questioningly. She looked around and eyed her surroundings before finally realizing where she was. "My house is over here. Hurry before he comes." The girl started running off in the other direction. Cloud trailed behind closely hoping they could get to the house in time before Reno showed up again.

They eventually made it to a small run down town in the sector and stopped to talk to a woman outside a huge pipe.

"That guy in the pipe's a weird one. No matter what you ask him, he only answers 'uuh' or 'aahh'," the lady explained.

Cloud and Aeris nodded and ran inside the large pipe.

"This guy is sick," she explained quietly. "He passed out nearby and someone must have helped him here."

They walked deeper into the pipe and found a small makeshift house with a man quite clearly in pain in the middle.

"This is the one……Won't you help him?" Aeris pleaded to Cloud hoping he'd be able to do something about the sick man.

Cloud shook his head. "Listen, I'm no doctor."

The girl let her arms hang limp and looked down at the floor. "No…I guess not…"

She stared at the man sympathetically until she noticed a small black figure on his hand. "Hey…that man has a tattoo. I think it was the number 2."

Cloud shook his head and walked slowly out of the pipe. They both made it through the town a little while later they arrived at a small brown house with a red roof. It had a huge yard atop a small hill where there were dirt paths lined with bright yellow flowers.

Cloud and Aeris entered the home and brushed their feet off at the entrance.

"I'm home, mom." Aeris yelled as she walked inside. Cloud stayed at the door and waited. An older woman with brown hair, wearing a green dress and a warm smile walked into the room.

"This is Cloud. My bodyguard." Aeris said to her mom as she pulled Cloud over to meet her.

"Bodyguard……? You mean you were followed again!?" The woman said, a worried look in her eyes. "Are you all right!? You're not hurt, are you!?" she asked giving her daughter a hug.

"I'm all right. I had Cloud with me."

The woman turned, looked over the newcomer, and smiled. "Thank you, Cloud." Aeris' mom bowed slightly and walked up the stairs.

"So what are you going to do now?" Aeris asked Cloud.

"…Is Sector 7 far from here? I want to go to Tifa's bar."

"Is Tifa……a girl?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah."

"A girl…friend?" she asked not sure she wanted to know the answer.

Cloud took a step back. "Girlfriend? No way!" he shook his head frantically.

"Hee hee hee……" Aeris giggled at the exaggerated response. "You don't have to get THAT upset…Well, that's…nice. Let's see, Sector 7? I'll show you the way."

Cloud crossed his arms and gave her a doubtful look. "You gotta be kidding. Why do you want to put yourself in danger again?"

"I'm used to it."

"Used to it!?……Well, don't know… getting help from a girl…" Cloud said just barely hiding a smile.

"A girl!! What do you mean by that!?" Aeris raised her voice and tried to muster the angriest face she could. "You expect me to just sit by and listen, after hearing you say something like that!?" The girl ran to the stairs and yelled to her mom who was at the top. "Mom! I'm taking Cloud to Sector 7. I'll be back in a while."

Elmyra slowly walked down the stairs and faced the two. "But dear…I give up. You never listen once you've made up your mind. But if you must go, why don't you go tomorrow? It's getting late now."

"Yeah, you're right, mom." Aeris admitted.

"Aeris, please go and make the bed."

The flower girl nodded and smiled back at Cloud. She climbed the stairs and headed up to the spare bedroom to make the bed.

Elmyra slowly approached the man who had apparently protected her daughter from the Turks. "That glow in your eyes… you're from SOLDIER, right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. Rather I used to be…"

The woman looked up the stairs to make sure Aeris wasn't listening in and sighed heavily. "……I don't know how to say this, but… Would you please leave here, tonight? Without telling Aeris."

Cloud gave the woman a strange stare and nodded slowly. He climbed up the wooden stairs and met Aeris at the top.

"You need to go through Sector 6 to get to Sector 7. Sector 6 is a little dangerous so you'd better get some rest tonight," she explained while showing Cloud to his room.

Cloud walked into the room and was about ready to shut the door when Aeris peeked inside. "Cloud… Good night." She said before softly closing the door.

Once Cloud was sure Aeris' foot steps were gone he sat down on the small bed and held his face in his hands. "Oh, man…"

Later that night

'…_seem pretty tired……'_ the voice echoed once again.

"……!?" Cloud shifted in the bed trying to get comfortable.

'_I haven't slept in a bed like this… in a long time.'_ The voice continued.

"…Oh, yeah." Cloud whispered to himself, half awake and half asleep.

'_Ever since that time.'_

_Flashback_

_Cloud laid in a large bed with blue sheets. The smell of food cooking in the oven engulfed the entire room. A blonde woman walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. _

"_My, how you've grown," she said with a warm smile." I'll bet the girls never leave you alone."_

_Cloud sighed and shifted his weight slightly. "…Not really."_

"…_I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city… I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."_

"…_I'm all right." _

_His mom looked up at the ceiling and thought for a while. "You should have… an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you."_

_Cloud sighed and stared up at the ceiling. No expression crossing his features. "……I'm not interested."_

_End flashback_


	8. Wall Market

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or ideas of final fantasy VII.

Thanks for all of the reviews and support ^-^ read and review!

* * *

Cloud opened his tired eyes and sat up in the bed. He stretched his arms out in front of him and yawned. He looked out the window and was surprised to find that the black night skies had turned a light gray as morning drew nearer. "…I must've fallen asleep." He muttered to himself as he climbed up from the bed.

"Sector 7's past Sector 6… I should be all right by myself…" He was about to leave the room when he found a package at the end of the bed with a phoenix down and a potion inside. He knew it didn't belong to him but he took it anyway. It might come in handy on the trip to Sector 7.

The man closed his hand around the golden doorknob and slowly turned it. The door opened with a creak and he walked out into the hallway.

Cloud treaded as softly as he could over the squeaky floorboards, trying to be as quiet as possible so Aeris wouldn't hear him. He padded down the stairs and through the dining room and finally exited the house without the flower girl noticing… or so he thought.

The town was quiet and most of its citizens were only just waking up and getting ready for work. The air was dry and cold just as it always was in the slums due to the city that hovered 50 meters above.

Cloud maneuvered his way through the cramped houses in the small town, struggling to remember the way out. A little while later he passed the old pipe that the sick man was in and exited the dirty town.

He walked the dirt paths for a while afterwards and came across a large concrete wall that divided Sector 5 from Sector 6. He stared down at his feet briefly. As he got closer to the entrance to Sector 6 he heard a familiar voice.

"You're up bright and early." Aeris skipped up to Cloud with a small smile on her pale face.

Cloud shook his head and sighed, "How could I ask you to go along when I knew it would be dangerous?"

"Are you done?" the girl asked quietly.

Cloud hung his head in defeat.

"You have to go through the slum in Sector 6 to get to Tifa's 7th Heaven. I'll take you there. Come on!" she said running towards the large hole in the wall that led to Sector 6.

Cloud stretched his arm ready to hold her back, but was too late. He shook his head once again, and shrugged before jogging after her.

The road that led to the next sector was leveled and broken with makeshift bridges connecting the pieces. The journey through the mess wouldn't have been as difficult if the demonic robot houses that seemed to want to destroy them hadn't attacked the two. Lucky for Cloud he found that Aeris could manage to defend herself with the guard stick she carried. The added bonus being that he didn't have to spend as much time healing either of them due to the fact that the flower girl's limit break healed both of them.

"The gate to Sector 7's in there," Aeris said stopping to catch her breath.

"Thanks. I guess this is goodbye. You gonna be all right going home?" Cloud asked.

Aeris let out a small laugh. "Oh no! 'What ever will I do!' …isn't that what you want me to say?"

Cloud shrugged, "Come to Sector 7?"

"I could do that. But won't I be in your way?"

Cloud cocked his head and gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean in the way?"

The flower girl shook her head and smiled. "Nothing!" She brushed some dirt off her dress. "Can we take a break?"

The ex-SOLDIER nodded and walked into the small children's playground with the girl.

Aeris looked up at the slide shaped as a moogle with wonder. "I can't believe it's still here." She then ran to the other side of the slide and climbed up on the top. "Cloud, over here!"

Cloud shook his head and smirked. He ran over to the other side and climbed to the top to sit next to the flower girl.

"What rank were you?" she asked him all of a sudden.

"Rank?" he asked looking rather confused.

"You know, in SOLDIER."

"Oh, I was…," his vision suddenly flashed before him. "First Class."

"Just the same as him," she said looking away from Cloud.

"The same as who?"

"My first boyfriend."

"You were…serious?" Cloud questioned her, raising a brow.

"No. But I liked him for a while."

"I probably knew him. What was his name?"

"It doesn't really matter," she replied holding her legs up to her chest.

Just then the large metal gate to Sector 7 opened with a loud rumble. A brightly colored carriage pulled by a chocobo rolled out revealing a woman in a blue dress sitting in the back.

Cloud stood up and tried to get a closer look. "Huh? Hey, back there…… Tifa!?"

Aeris stood up and stared at the carriage as it went by. "That girl in the cart was Tifa? Where was she going? She looked kind of odd…"

The girl jumped down to the slide and slid down to the bottom. She then took off after the carriage leaving Cloud at the top of the slide.

"I'll go on alone! You go home!" Cloud yelled to her but once again it was too late. The blonde slumped over and shook his head before jumping off the slide and running after her.

He sped down the dirt path and stopped when he finally caught up to the flower girl. He slowly walked up to her as he looked around at the bustling market town. Shady people loomed everywhere and shops lined all of the dirt paths.

"This place is scary in a lot of ways, especially for a girl. So we've got to find Tifa fast." Aeris said to Cloud as he approached her.

Aeris held onto Clouds hand as he dragged her through the Wall market trying to find any clues as to where Tifa may be. All of the shops looked so similar that they felt like they were going in circles. Until finally, they came upon a small crowd of men in front of an elaborate building adorned with bright pink neon signs and hearts.

"Welcome!! Even unpopular dweebs, like you may meet their destiny here!!" A fat man in a red and white suit greeted Cloud. "You looking for a girlfriend too?"

Cloud was disgusted by the trashy place but he needed get some sort of idea where Tifa was. "You know a girl named Tifa?"

The man smiled with a wink. "Hey, you're pretty fast. Tifa's our newest girl. But, unfortunately, she's having an interview right now. Here at the Honey Bee Inn, it's customary for all the new girls to be taken to Don Corneo's mansion. Don Corneo's a famous dilettante. Now he wants to settle down and is in the market for a bride."

Cloud nodded and pushed his way back through the crowd, receiving dirty looks from some of the men.

Cloud and Aeris ran through the town following the signs to Don's Mansion, which was all the way on the other side of the market. It became less and less crowded as they neared the mansion but large piles of scrap metal and junk made it just as hard to find their way.

The mansion was just as ugly as the rest of the town and it looked as if it was put together in less than a week. They both trudged up to the shiny golden doors that led inside. They were soon stopped, however, by a man guarding the mansion.

"This is the mansion of Don Corneo, the most powerful man in Wall Market." The man looked Cloud up and down and glared at him menacingly. "Look, the Don's not into men. So don't let me catch you around here again…" The guard then looked over at Aeris who was standing close behind. His eyes widened and he smiled a big toothy grin. "Hey, and you got another cute one with you!"

This time it was Clouds turn to glare. Aeris then took him by the hand and ran over to a dark corner where the guard wouldn't hear them.

"Hey, this look's like the Don's mansion. I'll go take a look. I'll tell Tifa about you."

Aeris was about ready to run back to the mansion when Cloud pulled her back. "No!! You can't!!"

The girl gave him a puzzled look. "Why?"

Cloud scratched his head and looked back at the guard to make sure they weren't being spied on. "You DO know…what kind of… place this is, don't you?"

Aeris pouted and crossed her arms. "Then what am I supposed to do? You want to go in with me?"

The ex-SOLDIER held his chin in his hand and thought. "Well being a man, that'll be pretty hard. Besides if I bust in there, it'll cause too much commotion." Cloud was too busy thinking of a plan to notice Aeris trying to hide her laughter.

"But, I just can't let you go in alone… Oh, man…… First… we need to find out if Tifa's alright…" He said before looking up at Aeris. "What's so funny, Aeris?"

The girl turned to Cloud, amusement written all over her face. "Cloud, why don't you dress up like a girl? It's the only way."

"WHAT!?" Cloud took a step back.

Aeris smiled and ran back up to the guard while Cloud was still in shock. "Just wait. I've got a cute friend I want to bring."

She ran back to Cloud and smiled happily.

"Aeris! I can't……"

"You ARE worried about Tifa, aren't you? Then come on, hurry!" She said grabbing Cloud by the hand and pulling him out of the mansion.


	9. Miss Cloud

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

Read and Review everyone ^.^

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Aeris pulled a rather reluctant Cloud into the dress shop down the street from the mansion. "Excuse me! I'd like to get a dress," Aeris informed the lady at the desk before Cloud could bail out.

"Umm, it might take a little time. Will that be all right?"

"What's the problem?" the flower girl asked with a concerned look.

"Well, my father, the owner, has been in a slump lately. You see, he makes all the dresses."

"And, where is your father?" Aeris asked the lady while Cloud eyed the shop in absolute horror.

The lady sighed and shook her head sadly. "He's probably plastered at the bar."

Aeris knitted her brows together in deep thought. "So… You're saying we can't get a dress unless we do something about your father?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. He's caused so much trouble." The lady was about to go back to her work when she did a double take at her perspective customers. "You'd help me bring him back?"

Aeris shrugged and looked back over at Cloud. "Well, if we don't do something, we don't get a dress, right?"

"Really!? Please help my crazy old dad. I just don't know what to do anymore…"

Aeris nodded and smiled. "All right, we'll do something. Let's go, Cloud!" She then grabbed Cloud by the hand and pulled him out of the shop in search of the drunken father.

They walked through the market, desperately trying to find a bar anywhere. They eventually found a small bar at the end of the path and entered the makeshift building.

The couple surveyed the joint trying to identify the dressmaker. They asked almost all of the drunken men in the tavern until they came across an old man sitting at end of the bar.

"Excuse us, are you the father of the girl at the Clothing Store?" Aeris asked the man.

"I own the Clothes Shop… but I ain't your father." He replied, his speech heavily slurred and his breath reeked of alcohol.

"I didn't say that……"

Cloud stepped forward and glared at the man. "Make me some clothes."

"I don't make men's clothes. And I don't feel like makin' anything right now," he said, taking another sip of his drink.

"Cloud, you wait over there for a second. I'll try and talk to him. Why don't you go over there and have something to drink."

Cloud nodded and trudged off to the other side of the bar.

Aeris sat down at one of the stools next to the dressmaker. "You know, Mister. He always said that just once, he'd like to dress up like a girl. So, that's why I wanted a cute dress for him…"

The man looked back over at Cloud in utter disbelief. "What!? A tough lookin guy like that?"

"So, how 'bout it? Will you make him one?" Aeris asked trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"…might be interesting. I was getting' a little bored just makin' regular clothes," he said, ideas already starting to form in his mind.

Aeris sounded hopeful, "Then you'll do it for us?"

"Yeah, all right. What kind of dress you want?"

"Something… that feels soft and something… that shimmers," she said. The girl laughed inwardly, as she tried to imagine Cloud in a dress.

"Hmm, got it. Y'know I got a friend that has the same taste as him. I'll go talk to him." The drunk said, getting up and heading out the door.

Aeris went to the back of the bar and smiled at Cloud, signaling to him her success. He got up from the chair and followed the happy girl out of the building.

After what seemed like an hour, the two entered the dress shop once again and met the dressmaker at the front desk.

The man smiled at the two and retrieved a dress from his desk. "Oh, you're here. It's ready. Go try it on." He handed Aeris the silk dress and showed her to the dressing room. Cloud shook his head and hung his shoulders, not enjoying the situation at all.

He slowly made his way to the back of the store. He confronted a smiling Aeris who held the dress out to him.

He sighed and glared at the delicate material. He carefully took the dress and walked into the dressing room, closing the curtain behind. He struggled for several minutes trying to squeeze into the dress. "How…… do you put this on?"

Aeris peeked inside and giggled slightly at Cloud's startled expression.

"Whoa! What are you doing!" He asked wide-eyed.

The girl shook her head and pursed her lips. "It's still not right. A wig! That's what you need!"

The dressmaker shuffled over to Aeris. "Umm, I thought you might, so I talked to my friend about getting one. You know the gym? You'll find a lot of people there like you. Go and talk to them."

Cloud quickly changed back into his normal SOLDIER attire and exited the dressing room. "…'like you'? Aeris, what did you tell him?"

Aeris smiled took the dress away from Cloud. "Does it matter? Anyhow, we got a pretty dress!"

The ex-SOLDIER shook his head again and sighed. They both walked out of the shop and headed north to the gym. The two eventually came to a large building with a green neon sign flashing 'Men Men Men'.

The men inside were all training hard. They were diligently doing squats or kicking targets, all except for a man of small stature standing in the middle of the gym.

"You the one…… Who wants to be cute?" The man turned to them.

"Cute?" Cloud looked at Aeris questioningly.

"Right," She nodded.

"And about the wig… Yeah, I heard. But it'll cost ya."

A large, muscular, dark skinned man ran up to the three of them and growled. "Big Bro!! The only way you're gonna get cuter is if you can beat Big Bro!!"

"That's right." A man training on the other side of the room added.

"So, you've got to compete with us!" the two men that were training in the ring announced, jumping out of the square arena.

"You're right. Let's do squats." The other man suggested.

"All right! We'll beat you out of this gym!"

Cloud stared at the short man in feminine clothes strangely. "Are you…?"

"THE beautiful Bro?" Aeris asked.

"What? You didn't know? Always running around sayin' Big Bro' this, Big Bro' that…" he turned to the black man. "Never mind that, come over here."

"No, I'll explain the rules." He said to the others. "Whoever has the most squats after 30 seconds gets the wig."

Cloud nodded and smirked. This would be an easy battle for him.

"I'm not going to lose." The man yelled doing a few arm pumps. "Big Bro's wig is MINE!!"

"Just be quiet…" The man kicking the target said.

"It's not fair for you to start right away, So, you want some practice?" Big Bro' asked.

"Don't need to practice." Cloud told him confidently.

"Now let's begin the real thing. Start!" Big Bro yelled before the two immediately began to do as many squats as they could.

Fifteen seconds passed and Cloud already had ten squats and the other losing by three. Time was up before they knew it and Cloud reigned victorious.

"He had 15 squats and you had 18 squats." Big Bro' announced to the two competitors. "You're really something. Okay, I'm a man of my word, here you are." Big Bro' said handing Cloud the blonde wig.

"Big Bro I'm so mad. I'm so so so---mad!" The other man complained loudly at his defeat.

Big Bro scowled and ran up to the man punching him dead in the face. He flew across the room and hit the other side with a loud thump. "Shut up! Don't cry, just because you lost!"

The man held his head in pain. "Uuuuhh, Bro's fists of steel cut to the bone!"

The rest of the men in the gym all went to check up on the man. Cloud and Aeris fled, heading off to get the next item on their list to feminize Cloud.

They headed back to the bar figuring that they might be able to get some more help there. Aeris pulled Cloud to the back where a man was dancing in front of the bathroom.

"Hey, could you do somethin' for me? Someone's been in there all day and they're not comin' out. I can't hold it anymore!" the boy asked as they approached.

Cloud nodded walked up to the door. He opened it carefully but then immediately closed it again upon noticing the horrible stench.

"HEY…someone's IN here… Don't look!" A girl yelled from the inside.

Cloud muttered a quick apology and quickly got out of the bar as fast as he good.

After another hour of walking they both decided to take a break and went inside a small restaurant.

"Welcome! Sit wherever you like!" The Chef greeted them kindly.

They both took a seat at the first two stools that they saw.

"Yes, what will you have?"

"Hmm…" Cloud and Aeris scanned the menu carefully. "Today's Special," they both decided.

"Comin' up!" the chef said with a smile.

"In this store, You pay first. It'll be 70 Gil," he explained holding his hand out for the money.

Cloud reached into his pocket and dug out the 70 Gil needed. He glared at the man astonished by the high cost but shoved the Gil into his hand anyway.

"Thank you. Just a second."

The chef came back a few minutes later with a steaming plate of delicious smelling food.

The chef watched with a smile on his face as the two hungrily devoured the food.

Cloud handed the plates back to the chef. "It was all right," he said, taking a sip of water.

"Thank you. Here's an item coupon for the Pharmacy. You can exchange it for one item there," the chef smiled at the two and bowed. "We're out of coupons, so we stopped giving them away. Watch for our NEXT promotion!"

The ex-SOLDIER shrugged and took the coupon before handing it to Aeris.

They squeezed through the crowded seats of the restaurant and walked out of the tent. They ran over to the next row of tents and entered the pharmacy.

"Whoa!" the man at the counter yelled jumping back. "Why don't you say something if you're standing there?"

Aeris came up from behind Cloud and held the coupon out to the man.

"Oh, you have a coupon. Then please select any one medicine you like."

Aeris nodded and searched around the store for some medicine that might help the lady in the bathroom at the bar. She searched for almost 10 minutes until she found a digestive. She picked it up and headed back to the counter to show the man what she selected.

She took the digestive and ran with Cloud back to the bathroom in the bar. Aeris opened the door and looked inside.

"What……urk……"

Aeris handed her the digestive.

"Huh? You'll really give me some? Thanks." The lady took the pills and slowly walked out of the bathroom. "Phew, I feel better now. This is for your kindness," she said handing Cloud a small bottle labeled 'Sexy Cologne'.

He put it in his pocket and they went to check one of the last stores on the road.

"Hey man. Got a minute? I need to talk…man to man." The storeowner asked Cloud.

"……What is it?" Cloud asked walking closer.

"Really! I really appreciate it……I'm sorry but, young lady? Would you turn the other way for a second?"

"Why……?" she asked with a puzzled look.

"……Aeris." Cloud gave her a hard stare.

"Gosh!" she exclaimed. The flower girl turned around and put her hands over her ears.

"I'm sorry, lady," the man then turned to Cloud with a serious face. "Now here's the thing. Do you know that vending machine in the Inn? I'm itchin' to know what they're selling in it. I just can't ask a girl to go get it. What? Why don't I buy it myself? Well to tell you the truth, I got in a fight with the guy at the Inn and can't go there anymore. Come on, so how 'bout it?"

Cloud held his chin in his hand and thought for a while. "I'll go." He finally decided, hoping that he'd get something in return.

"Good, thanks. I'll be waitin' here when you're done."

"Finished?" Aeris asked while taking her hands off her ears.

Cloud nodded and left the store with Aeris following close behind.

It was getting later in the day at the Wall Market and it didn't become any less busy. In fact there seemed to be even more people lining the roads when they exited the small shop.

They pushed there way through the crowds and saw a large neon sign that said 'Inn'.

They figured it was getting late so they might as well take a nap while they were at the Inn. They entered the structure and were greeted by the front desk lady.

"Welcome. It'll be 10 Gil per night."

Cloud handed her the money and then headed over to the vending machine the man was talking about.

"He means this?" he asked himself staring at the junk that was in the machine. He bought the most expensive one, at 200 Gil, and walked back to his room to take a nap.

A few hours later…

"Thank you very much. Please come again." The front desk lady said as Cloud handed her the keys from the rooms.

They walked through the streets, dust rising up behind them as they made each step towards the store. They entered the metal shop and tracked dirt on the wooden floors.

"I got it." Cloud said throwing the package onto the desk in front of the man.

"Oh, really!! Hey!"

Aeris ran to the other side of the room and covered her ears again. "Geez!"

"And, what was it?" The shopkeeper said opening the bag. "A protein drink set. That jerk. I'm gonna do so much more business than him, his head'll spin." the man smiled triumphantly. "Thanks, bud. I'm motivated now. Take this, it's not much……"

Cloud took the Diamond Tiara and looked over it with disgust before putting it in his pocket. How did everyone seem to know that he was trying to dress up as a woman?

They decided to go back to the Honey Bee Inn when a large man pacing on the side of the road stopped them.

"Nope, I just can't make up my mind. Here, you take this. You won't be able to get in without it." He gave Cloud a small card that said Honey Bee Inn on it.

Cloud and Aeris made there way over to the bright pink neon signs. The crowds weren't as bad as they were before but there were still several men hanging around the front entrance.

"Hey! Is that a "Member's Card" I see shining in your hot little hand?" the man at the front asked him. "Please, come in."

Aeris walked to the side and was suddenly surrounded by drooling men.

"…Hmm. That's how you'll fool them." Cloud said shaking his head at Aeris.

"………Hmmmmmmm. So that's how you fooled them." Aeris said to herself smiling at Cloud.

"Let's go!!" Cloud announced as he ran into the Honey Bee Inn.

He strolled into the large hexagonal room with a giant blue circle on the floor.

"Poo, I uh, mean, Sir…" A young girl in a bee costume greeted Cloud. "Hurry…"

He moved to one of the 5 doors and read the sign at the top. "Lovers Room… Looks like this room's being used."

He looked through the keyhole and spied on the inhabitants. "……Wooo…ow!!"

"…wheez…"

"Phew…"

"What's wrong, Grandpa? You keep sighing," an old woman sitting on a rocking chair said.

"…wheez…puff… You know, Grandma…" an old man responded.

"You talking about this room?"

"…whew… I know our son rented this for us and all, but… It's too nice for us. Big round bed, gorgeous tub, I just can't get comfortable."

"Don't' worry about it. It's a high class neighborhood in the Big City. You keep complainin' and we'll get in trouble."

"…wheez…"

He then ran over to another room labeled "The Queen's Room". He looked into the keyhole and spied on its inhabitants as well.

"…… _The wind's calm now……," _a voice from inside the room whispered.

"It's the curse of the resurrected Satan… Our beloved Queen does not awaken…"

"The time is ripe…," the man pacing in the king outfit announced.

"A legend has been passed on through generations…"

"Psst…… Hey, Shouldn't we stop him soon?" A man in a suit whispered to another.

"……We have a luncheon with President Shinra." The other whispered back.

"Psst…… You tell him……"

"I can't tell him……"

"Come on!! Oh, well……"

"A legend has been passed on through generations…"

"……_the sought after Promised Land…"_

"Psst……I'm so disgusted with the President."

"……_One with Blue Eyes…"_

"Psst……It's like this every time we have a business trip to Midgar."

"……_and a Great White Sword on his back……"_

"We come all the way to Midgar, just for this…"

"……_Will not lead to the Promised Land……"_

"Psst……What're you complaining about. You're just holding the lights. I've gotta wear this heavy armor!"

"I know, I know… but it's all part of the job."

"Psst…… Oh yeah, did you hear? The President's wife found out about this little hobby of his."

"Ha, ha……No way, that's the first I've heard of it."

"Psst…… Oh, looks like he's done. Man, I'm glad!!"

"Geez!! Mr. President!! I mean, Your Majesty……"

"Ohhh……I'm sorry. Please remove the ancient curse!"

Cloud shook his head and went to a third room that had more of the girls in bee outfits.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm……" The first girl was staring at herself in front of a mirror. "Ohhh, I just can't seem to lose weight. Hmm, hmm, hmm…" The girl turned and gasped upon finding Cloud standing in front of the door. "Sir!! You can't come in here." _'Yuk……a pervert…'_ she thought.

Cloud approached the second girl. "Eyaaah! Don't!" She screamed.

The blonde shrugged and greeted the third girl who was putting on makeup. _'Oh God…here's another one of those guys. You know, the delicate type. Just ignore him, just ignore him. Hmm…! I guess he doesn't realize his position. I feel sorry for him. Just ignore him, just ignore him. God, what a pest! All right, get out of here! You dog… That's it, I'll name him 'pooch'. What should I do… Is he following me? Really? What if he follows me home…? Poochy'll do it, I'm sure of it… You think he's after me? Really? This guy makes me sick… And his eyes are weird too… Yeah, don't hurt these guys' feelings. Let's at least say 'hi' to him,' _She thought as Cloud watched her put on her make up. "Uhh……Hel…Hello." She finally stuttered… "What a nice day, today."

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet." Cloud said with a smile. "I'm Cloud, a jack of all trades."

"Oh, yeah…? Welcome, Cloud," she nervously smiled at the man. _'Gross! Don't get carried away, remember your name is 'Pooch!' "Take care…Cloud."_

Cloud went over to the first girl again and greeted her.

"Oh my!!" _'…You're still here? Oh well, good timing anyway.' "_Hey, What do you think about me?" she asked trying to look as pretty as possible.

"Not interested." Cloud replied in monotone.

"NO WAY! I'M SO SHOCKED!!" The girl exclaimed before going back to looking at herself in the mirror. "Is something the matter?" she asked due to the fact that Cloud was staring at the mirror.

"……Not really."

"Hmph……!! Listen you, not that it matters, but you sure do know how to make people mad."

Cloud shrugged and left the room.

"Poo, I uh, mean, Sir…" The lady greeted him once again. "Hurry…"

Cloud then moved to the last room which was labeled _'The &$#% Room.'_

"Looks like it's unoccupied. I guess I'll take this one." Cloud said to the girl. "I'll take this room." He confirmed.

"All right. Now all we have to do is enter the room. You're not going to have a change of heart, are you?"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"Oh, don't be angry with me…" she said stepping back nervously. _'Geez… this one's probably the violent type…'_ She thought while she unlocked the wooden door. "All right, please," she said motioning towards the door.

Cloud entered the brightly colored room but his vision immediately went blurry with a reddish hue. His head pounded and there was a constant ringing in his ears.

"Hmm……? You……?" Cloud approached what appeared to be a transparent version of himself huddled up in the corner. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

"That's what I want to ask you. Should you be foolin' around here?" the image asked him, while rising from the floor, buster sword in hand. "You think problems will just go away just thinkin' about them?" the reflection of himself dissolved into his body and suddenly his vision went black.

"Oh no!" the lady dressed in the bee outfit ran into the room to find Cloud passed out on the floor. "Help! Someone…! Hurry!"

'You can't change anything by just sitting back and looking at it.'the voice hissed once again.

'What are you saying?'

'It's started moving.'

'What has?' Cloud asked.

'Wake up!'

"rub, rub, rub… rub, rub, rub, rub…"

"Thump…pound… thump…pound…"

"poik…poik……squish."

"Uh…OW…!!" Cloud yelled out in pain.

Cloud regained consciousness and opened his eyes to find a man slapping him in the face repeatedly.

"Wake up!!" the man yelled in his face.

Cloud sat up slowly and almost fell off the bed when the muscular man threw himself onto the bed. "Phew, I'm so relieved. Bubby!! I heard you collapsed."

Cloud shook his head confused.

"No, no, no." the other man, whose name was Mukki said to the blonde. "Don't get so uptight."

"Huh…?" Cloud replied lazily still not quite sure what was going on.

"Hmm…? They say youth is so long but so short. Let's give this next one your best shot." Mukki suddenly stood up. "Time's up. Bye, bubby." The man then walked out of the brightly colored room.

Cloud jumped off the bed and shrugged. He walked over to the girl in the bee outfit.

"I'm so sorry… There's a lot of 'adult' things going on…" she apologized with a low bow. "For your inconvenience, Please take this, okay?" She said handing him lingerie.

"What, this rag? For me!? I just don't get it," the blonde exclaimed while examining the garment.

He ran back to the room where the girls were putting on makeup. "If I were to dress up like a woman… Then I've got to really prepare carefully." He said to himself approaching the girl on the far side of the yellow room. "Seems like I could put makeup on here. I have a favor to ask of you. Can you put makeup on me too?" he questioned the girl.

She quickly stopped with her work and pasted the makeup on his face. "Oh…my……"

Cloud looked in the mirror quite satisfied with his feminine look and left the Honey Bee Inn.


	10. Don Corneo

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

Read and review everyone ^.^ chapter 11 will be out by tomorrow or later tonight ^.^

* * *

"Uh, sir!! It's almost closing time… So, please remember any personal belongings." The man on the outside of the inn approached Cloud.

"Hey!! Cloud!!" Aeris yelled over to the blonde. All of the men that were around her scattered and went back to their previous business.

They ran out into the main street and decided to check the item store. However, they sped out as quickly as they could when a mini gun started unleashing its fury on them.

They headed back to the dress shop and took out all the things they had collected.

"Aren't you going to change?" Aeris asked Cloud.

"Okay… I'm ready." The ex-SOLDIER trudged into the small dressing room and struggled to put on all of the feminine items.

"Hmm, not bad. This may be a new business for me," the dressmaker announced with a smile as Cloud shuffled into the room.

"Yeah, you're right. Should we try it?" his daughter asked. "Thanks for showing us something new. My father's got his motivation back now, so the dress is on the house."

"Walk more nicely like… this, Miss Cloud," Aeris said trying to direct the blonde on how to walk more like a woman.

"…What do you mean 'nicely'?" he asked with a scowl. He shuffled across the room in an effort to copy Aeris.

"Oh you're so cute, Miss Cloud. Aaah, I want one. Do you have one that'll look good on me too?"

"How's this?" The lady showed Aeris a soft green dress.

"How about that one?" The dressmaker then showed her a blue one that was very frilly.

"Father, what are you talking about? This one's much better," the daughter argued.

"No, what are you saying? This one," he contradicted.

Aeris made her way up to the dress rack and scanned it carefully. "…I want THIS one," she decided, pulling the dress off the rack.

"Huh?" the father and the daughter said in unison.

"I'm going to go change……No peeking!" she said with a smile before entering the dressing room.

"So? How do I look?" she asked, walking out in a ruby red strapless dress.

Cloud shook his head and sighed.

"Oh, you're no fun!"

They thanked the dressmaker and his daughter one last time before heading off to the Don's mansion.

"Damn!! Your friend's hot, too!" the guard commented with a toothy grin. "Two ladies coming through!!" he yelled to the person who controlled the doors.

The golden doors slowly opened and Cloud and Aeris entered the mansion.

"Hey, ladies," a man in a tuxedo behind a desk welcomed them. "I'll go and let the Don know you're here. Wait here. Don't go wandering around…," he concluded before walking into a room in the back.

The inside of the mansion was much better looking that the outside. Everything was made of deep mahogany and adorned with ornate decorations.

"Now's our chance. Let's find Tifa," Aeris whispered to Cloud. They searched the mansion carefully until they found a stone stairwell. The small corridor became darker and darker with every few steps. They finally reached the bottom and came face to face with what seemed like a torture chamber of some sort.

"…Tifa?" Aeris asked the girl in the blue dress who was sitting in the back of the room. "Nice to meet you, I'm Aeris," she introduced herself as Tifa walked closer. "Cloud's told me a lot about you."

"…And you are?" the raven-haired girl gave her a strange look. "Hey you're the one with Cloud in the park…," she suddenly remembered.

"Right, with Cloud," she acknowledged.

"Oh……"

"Don't worry. We just met. It's nothing," she assured Tifa.

"What do you mean, 'Don't worry'…about what?" she rose a brow at the flower girl.

Tifa shook her head and smiled. "No, don't misunderstand. Cloud and I grew up together. Nothing more."

Aeris let out a small laugh. "Poor Cloud, having to stand here and listen to both of us call him nothing. Right, Cloud?" she turned to the blonde who was standing in the corner with his back turned.

"Cloud?" Tifa examined Cloud closely and jumped back upon realizing it was him. "Cloud!? Why are you dressed like that!? And what are you doing here!? Forget that, what happened to you after the fall!? Are you hurt!?" She practically bombarded him with questions.

Cloud shook his head. "Hey, give me a chance to answer."

He knitted his brows together in thought. "I'm dressed like this…… because there was no other way to get in here. I'm all right. Aeris helped me out."

Tifa's face suddenly seemed a bit sad. "Oh, Aeris did…"

Cloud expression suddenly became stern. "Tifa, explain. What are you doing in a place like this?"

"Yeah, ummm……," she coughed nervously.

"Ahem!! I'll just plug my ears." Aeris walked to the other side of the room and put her hands over her ears.

"…I'm glad you're OK," Tifa finally said to Cloud.

"Thanks. What happened?"

"When we got back from the Number 5 reactor, there was this weird man. So Barret caught him and squeezed some information out of him."

"That's when the Don's name popped up," Cloud inferred.

"Right, Don Corneo. Barret told me to leave the lech alone… But something's been bothering me."

"I see. So you wanted to get the story straight from Corneo's mouth."

"So I made it here, but now I'm in a bind," Tifa explained. "Corneo is looking for a bride. Everyday, he gets three girls, chooses one of them, and then……and, well…… Anyway, I have to be the girl…or I'm out for tonight."

"Sorry…but I overheard…," Aeris apologized while walking over to join the other two. "If you know the three girls, there's no problem, right?"

"I guess so, but…" Tifa shrugged.

"We have two here, right?" she said with an idea in her mind.

"No, Aeris! I can't have you get involved." Cloud interrupted.

Aeris rose a brow, "Oh? So it's all right for Tifa to be in danger?"

Cloud shook his head frantically and hung his shoulders knowing the mistake he made. "No, I don't want Tifa in…"

Tifa made her way to Aeris' side, "Is it all right?"

"I grew up in the slums… I'm used to danger," She told Tifa as they started for the stairs. "Do you trust me?"

Tifa nodded, "Yes. Thanks, Ms. Aeris."

Aeris shook her head, "Call me Aeris."

"He---y!!" the man in the tuxedo yelled down to the three from the top of the stairs. "It's time, ladies. The Don is waiting! I told you not to wander around… I tell ya, women nowadays…," he added in a whisper. "Hurry up, will ya!"

Cloud sighed and accompanied the other two girls, "I probably don't need to ask, but the other girl is…… Me……right?"

Tifa nodded, "You're right, there was no need…"

"…to ask," Aeris added.

They all climbed up the stone steps and were led into a room with a magnificent golden and red door.

"All right, ladies!" one of the men on the Don's right announced to the three. "Line up in front of the Don!"

The three lined up in front of the Don and tried to look as pretty as possible.

The Don was a fat man with a blonde Mohawk and expensive western looking clothes. He leaned over his red desk and eyed the three hungrily. "Hmmm! Good, splendid!"

"Now, let's see… which girl should I choose? Hmm---hmm---!" he said looking the three up and down. "This one?" he asked himself while judging all three of them. "Or this one?" he asked looking at Tifa. "Woo-hoo, I've made up my mind!!" he finally announced, his cigar half hanging out of his mouth.

My choice for tonight is…… This healthy-looking girl!" he pointed at Cloud.

Cloud took a step back and he stared at the Don in horror. "Wa, wait a sec! I mean, uh, please wait a moment!"

"Woo-hoo! I love chickies who play hard-to-get! Yeowza!" The Don turned to his two henchmen. "You can have the other ones!"

"Yes, sir! Thank you sir!" they said at the same time while saluting the Don.

"Well then, shall we go my pretty!?" he asked Cloud and dragged him to his room.

"Ahh, we're finally alone…," the Don sighed while laying on the large bed. The blankets on top were golden and had a red symbol on top that said angel. "All right, pussycat… Come to daddy!!"

Cloud walked over to the edge of the bed and faced the Don.

"You're so cute, I never get tired of looking at you," the Don told Cloud with a dreamy look in his eyes. "Do you… like me, too?"

"Of course!" Cloud answered with a wink.

Don Corneo's eyes widened, "You sure do know how to make a guy feel good! Then, wh…what do you want to DO?"

"Whatever YOU want, daddy."

"Oh man! I can't stand it! All right, then…… Give me a kiss!! A KISS!!"

"All right……" Cloud said reluctantly, hoping that Tifa and Aeris would save him from the horrible situation. He leaned in and closed his eyes when the door suddenly flung open and the two girls came running inside.

"Ju---st a minute!!" they yelled at the Don.

Don Corneo jumped back and eyed the two with suspicion. "Wha… what the hell? Who goes there!?"

"Cloud… Were you really……" Tifa asked with a disgusted look on her face.

Cloud shook his head and tore off the dress revealing his normal attire.

"A man!? What's goin' on?" the Don yelled at the three.

"Shut up, we're asking the questions now…" Tifa informed him as they all ran to the side of the bed. "What did your assistants find out? Talk! If you don't tell us…"

Cloud put one leg up on the bed and glared menacingly at the man. "…I'll chop them off."

Fear was plastered on the Dons face and he shook his head as fast as he could. "No! Not that! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

"So…talk."

"…I made 'em find out where the man with the gun-arm was. But that's what I was ordered to do."

"By who?" Tifa asked.

"No--! If I told you that, I'd be killed!"

"Talk! If you don't tell us…"

This time Aeris put her leg up on the bed and glared at the Don. "…I'll rip them off."

Don Corneo flung his arms around and yelled, "Waaaaaaaaaaah--! It was Heidegger of Shinra! Heidegger, the head of Public Safety Maintenance!"

"The head of Public Safety Maintenance!?" Cloud exclaimed.

"Did you say the Shinra!? What are they up to!? Talk! If you don't tell us…" Tifa then put her leg up on the bed and glared daggers. "…I'll smash them."

"…You're serious, aren't you……ohboy, ohbooy, ohboy… I'm not fooling around here either, you know. Shinra's trying to crush a small rebel group called AVALANCHE, and want to infiltrate their hideout. And they're really going to crush them…literally, by breaking the support holding up the plate above them."

"Break the support!?" Tifa was about to panic but knew she had to get more information out of the Don.

"You know what's going to happen? The plate'll go PING and everything's gonna go BAMMM!! I heard their hideout's in the Sector 7 Slums… I'm just glad it's not here in Sector 6."

Tifa shook her head sadly, "They're going to wipe out the Sector 7 Slums!? Cloud, will you come with me to Sector 7?"

Cloud nodded, a determined look on his face. "Of course, Tifa."

"Just a second!" the Don yelled out to the three as they ran towards the door.

They all stopped in front of the door and glared at the chubby man.

"Shut up!" Cloud yelled at him.

"No wait, it'll only take a second," he explained with a mischievous grin. "How do you think scum like me feels when they babble on about the truth?"

"They're sure they'll win?" Cloud asked suspiciously.

"Woo-hoo! Right!" The Don yelled while doing a little dance on the bed and pressing a button on the wall.

The floor underneath the three suddenly collapsed sending them plummeting down to the bottom.


	11. The Sector 7 Crisis

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

Thanks for all the reviews ^.^ R&R everyone!

* * *

A large man in a green military suit slowly made his way up the stairs. The room at the top was mostly different shades of grey and metal. In the middle was a large metal oval platform with blue tinted glass surrounding it's top that served as a desk for the president. Pillars lined the outside of the desk and lights glowed from the inside of it. The wall behind the desk was nothing but glass and looked out over half of Midgar.

"How are the preparations going?" President Shinra asked Heidegger, the man in green.

"Ha, ha, ha!! Smoothly, very smoothly! I assigned the Turks to this."

"President!! Are we really going to do this? Simply destroy a group with only a few members…," a man named Reeve who wore a blue business suit interrupted.

"What's the problem, Reeve? You want out?" the President asked while organizing some papers behind his desk.

"…No." he answered, not quite agreeing with the plan that the President had come up with. "But, as head of the Urban Development Department, I have been involved in the building and running of Midgar. That's why…"

Shinra got up from his desk and walked around to the other side to face his two employees.

"Reeve, you should flush those personal problems in the morning!" Heidegger loudly told his co-worker.

"The Mayor's against this anyway…," Reeve added, glaring at the bearded man.

"Mayor?" Heidegger shrugged. "He just sits in this building all day feeding his face! You still call that a Mayor?" Heidegger saluted the President, "Now if you'll excuse me sir!" He then left the room with an obnoxious laugh.

Reeve ran after him, but stopped at the top of the stairs.

"You're tired. Why don't you take a couple of days off and go somewhere," Shinra suggested to Reeve.

Reeve nodded reluctantly and headed down the stairs.

"We'll destroy Sector 7 and report that AVALANCHE did it. Then we'll send in the rescue operation care of Shinra. Inc… Heh, heh, heh… this is perfect." the President said to himself with an evil grin.

In the sewers below Sector 6

Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris all fell to the bottom with a large thump. Cloud, the only one who was conscious at the moment, pulled himself up from the slimy sewer water.

"You alright?" he asked Tifa as he waded through the slime towards her.

"Man! This is terrible," she said while getting up. She pinched her nose and grimaced when she got whiff of the putrid smell surrounding them.

"You alright?" Cloud asked Aeris, taking her hand and pulling her up.

"Yeah," she answered trying to brush her dress off a little. "Well, the worst is over…"

At that moment they all heard a low growl echoing within the sewers.

"Maybe not…" Aeris added.

Suddenly a beast composed of a hundred different things dropped down in front of them. It had the front of a lizard, horns coming out of it's back, chains from it's wrists, and the back of what looked like a bull.

Cloud drew his sword and the beast roared. Slime from its mouth nearly covered the three companions. Cloud hit the thing with his cross slash, but it barely even hurt the monster.

It roared again and brought its fists down on the floor. A huge wave of slime, mud, and other unmentionable things rose up from behind the beast and crashed down on the three.

Aeris struggled to get up from the blow and whacked the thing in the nose, which seemed to just make it even madder.

The beast swiped it's claws out at Aeris and just barely missed. Tifa followed up with a relentless fury of punches and kicks.

Cloud shoved his sword into its side but it still wouldn't fall.

Just as they were about to give up, Aeris cast fire. Flames exploded within the beast. It gave one last roar and crashed to the floor.

"It's too late…… Marlene…Barret…the people of the Slums." Tifa exhaled, exhausted and covered in mud and slime.

Aeris put a hand on Tifa's shoulder, "Don't give up, never give up hope. It's not easy to destroy the pillar, right?

"………Yeah……you're right! We still have time."

All three nodded and climbed the ladder next to them. The trip through the sewers took a lot longer than they expected. However, it could have been worse. Cloud had at least found a new materia to add to their collection.

When they finally made it to the top they discovered that they were in the middle of the train graveyard.

"Aeris. I got you mixed up in all of this…," Cloud began.

"Don't tell me to go home."

Tifa interrupted the two, "Let's see…If we can just get past the trains that are lit up, we should be able to get out of here."

The group all agreed and then wound in and out of the lit up trains all the way to the exit. Luckily, there was a large amount of bridges and ladders that made the trek to the other side easier. Plus there were plenty of potions and other items just laying around for the three to take.

A few minutes later they rushed past the train station and over to the support in sector 6. Citizens were crowded around the gate that surrounded the pillar. Gun shots were heard from the top and everyone was panicking.

"We made it! The pillar's standing!" Tifa yelled over to Cloud and Aeris.

"Wait! You hear something……above us?" Cloud asked while looking up at the top.

Aeris thought for a moment. "……gun fire?"

Flashes of light were seen all throughout the stairs leading to the top. Guns continued to blaze and the panic only grew worse by the second.

Suddenly, a man fell off the very top and crashed down to the bottom. Dust rose up all around them causing coughing fits among the crowd. Once the dust cleared Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, and some other people in the crowd investigated.

Cloud kneeled down next to the dying man. "Wedge!! You all right!?"

"……Cloud……You remembered……my name," Wedge said with a weak smile. "Barret's up top…help him……"

"An' Cloud… Sorry, I wasn't any help." Wedge took one last breath and closed his eyes.

Cloud, who had a mix of anger and determination on his face, rose up and started towards the gate. "I'm going up! Aeris! You look after Wedge."

Tifa ran over to Aeris. "Aeris, do me a favor. I have a bar called '7th Heaven' in this neighborhood. There's a little girl named Marlene there……"

Aeris nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'll put her somewhere safe."

"It's dangerous here!" Tifa yelled out to the crowd. "Everyone get away from the pillar, quickly! Everyone get out of Sector 7!"

Aeris smiled and waved at Cloud and Tifa. The crowd scattered in all different direction and Cloud and Tifa ran off toward the stairs. They wanted to help Biggs, who was injured severely on the stairs, but they didn't have any time. They had to make it to the top to help Barret before it was too late.

"…Cloud… I'm glad……I could talk with you…one last time," Jessie forced out.

"Don't say 'last'……," Cloud said kneeling down next to her.

"That's…all right… Because… of our actions…many……people died… this probably……is our punishment…"

Tifa gave Cloud a worried look. They had to move on or they might not make it.

The relentless Aero Combatants stopped them at least a dozen times on the way to the top. They were dead set on keeping them from reaching their goal.

Soon after, they made it to the top and joined Barret, who was firing at the helicopter.

"Tifa! Cloud! You came! Be careful! They're attacking from the helicopter," Barret warned the two.

Tifa nodded. "Better equip ourselves before they attack in full force!"

Cloud pulled out his Buster Sword and smirked.

"Here they come!" Tifa yelled.

The helicopter neared the platform and Barret continued his assault. Reno dropped down and ran over to the terminal on the pillar.

Cloud and the others all sped to the other side of the pillar and confronted the Turk.

"You're too late. Once I push this button…" Reno had a devilish grin on his face when he brought his hand down on the flashing button. A loud bleep was heard and the terminal began to flash red. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished."

"We have to disarm it! Cloud! Barret! Please!" Tifa pleaded to the two men.

Reno glared at Tifa, "I can't have you do that. No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks…" He drew his EMR and pointed it straight at Tifa.

A transparent yellow pyramid suddenly appeared around her and she found herself unable to move. "Try and break it if you can," Reno taunted.

Cloud ran to Tifa's aid and brought his sword down on the pyramid cage. Barret fired a few rounds at the Turk but Reno was too fast. He dodged all of the shots and some how ended up behind Barret. He charged his EMR and whacked Barret in the back of the head.

Luckily Reno hadn't noticed that Tifa was now free. He turned around only to be kicked in the face by the martial artist.

Cloud took the opportunity to swing towards Reno's head, but the blue suit managed to dodge that, too. He followed up with another slash, but yelled out in pain when an electric current surged throughout his body.

He decided to give Reno a dose of his own medicine and cast Bolt at the man when his back was turned.

The Turk had been focusing on Barret, who received quite a beating. Tifa threw a potion over to Barret and Cloud cast yet another Bolt on Reno.

Reno ran a hand through his red hair and looked at his watch. "It's time," He announced and then ran back to the helicopter.

Tifa immediately ran over to the terminal and pressed a few buttons. "Cloud! I don't know how to stop this. Try it!"

Cloud examined it for a few seconds. "…It's not a normal time bomb."

The helicopter flew up next to the railing on the platform. The leader of the Turks, Tseng, was watching them with a smirk. "That's right. You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it."

"Please, stop it!" Tifa begged Tseng.

"Ha ha ha…… Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

Barret pointed his gunarm at the helicopter. "Shut yer hole!" He shot the copter a few times but the bullets bounced right off.

"I wouldn't try that…… You just might make me injure our special guest."

Aeris raised her head up so that the others could see her behind Tseng.

"Aeris!!" Tifa called out to the flower girl.

"Oh, you know each other?" Tseng asked with a wicked grin. "How nice you could see each other one last time. You should thank me."

Cloud ground his teeth together in anger, "What are you gonna do with Aeris!?"

Tseng shrugged, "I haven't decided. Our orders were to find and catch the last remaining Ancient. It's taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President."

"Tifa, don't worry! She's all right!" Aeris yelled to Tifa.

Tseng sneered and slapped Aeris across the face.

"Aeris!" Tifa ran up to the railing towards the helicopter.

"Hurry and get out!" Aeris yelled back to the three.

"Ha, ha, ha… Well, it should be starting right about now. Think you can escape in time?" Tseng questioned the three before flying away in his helicopter.

The top of the pillar then exploded into flames and chunks of metal and concrete fell off the sides. The whole platform shook and the three desperately searched for a way out of Sector 7.

"Yo, we can use this wire to get out!" Barret called out. He pulled the industrial cable over to the railing. Tifa jumped in front of him and Cloud got on the man's shoulders. They all hung onto the cable and jumped off the railing.

They swung over to Sector 6 just as the rest of the pillar exploded. Citizens of Sector 7 could do nothing but watch as the plate slowly began its descent.

The President watched from his office with a smile on his fat face as explosions shook the city. Within seconds, Sector 7 was no more.


	12. The Last Ancient

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way ^.^

Once again, Read and Review everyone! ^.^

* * *

Cloud slowly forced himself up and took in his surroundings. They had landed in the middle of the children's playground where he and Aeris had stopped before. The once cheerful park was now littered with steaming piles of rubble and debris. Ash covered the moogle-shaped equipment and smoke still hung in the air.

The three remaining members of AVALANCHE walked over to the metal gate that led to the now demolished Sector 7. The doors were gone and the entrance was piled to the top with pieces of the plate.

"Marlene! MARLENE!!" Barret yelled and ran up to the gate.

"MAR---LE---NE!!" He cried. "Biggs! Wedge!! Jessie!!" he yelled out to his companions even though he knew they were long gone. "Goddamn it!!!" He punched a piece of the metal that covered the entrance. "Dammit!" He punched it again. "DAMMIT ALL TO HELL!!!! What the hell's it all for!? ARGGHHHH!!!"

"Hey, Barret!" Cloud yelled out to the distraught man but got no response.

"Barret!" Tifa tried to get his attention.

"ARGGHHHH!!!"

"Hey!" Cloud put a hand on the larger mans shoulder.

"Barret, stop… Please stop, Barret," Tifa pleaded.

"URGHHHH!!!" Barret unleashed hundreds of rounds at the metal pile in front of him. He fell to his knees and hung his head in defeat. "God damn…"

After some convincing they finally got Barret to come back to the park so they could discuss their next plan of action.

"Marlene…," Barret whispered.

"………Barret……?" Tifa attempted to get his attention again. "Marlene is… I think Marlene is safe."

Barret suddenly perked up and stared wide-eyed at Tifa. "……huh?"

"Right before they took Aeris, she said, "Don't worry, she's all right." She was probably talking about Marlene." Tifa explained.

"R, really!?"

"But…"

"Biggs…… Wedge… Jessie……"

"All three of them were in the pillar," Cloud informed him.

Barret glared at the ex-SOLDIER. "Think I don't know that? But…we, all of us fought together." Barret hung his head again. "I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

"…and the other people in Sector 7," Tifa added.

"This is all screwed up! They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people…"

"…are you saying it's our fault? Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?" Tifa asked him, a solemn look in her eyes.

Barret shook his head. "No, Tifa! That ain't it! Hell no!! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra! They're evil and destroyin' our planet just to… build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!!"

"………I don't know."

Barret raised an arm in the air. "What don't you know!? You don't believe me?"

"It's not that. I'm not sure about…me. My feelings."

"An' what about you?" Barret turned to the blonde.

Cloud had his arms crossed and back turned to the other two. He looked up at the sky and then walked off.

"Yo! Where's he think he's goin'?"

"Oh! Aeris!" Tifa suddenly remembered.

"Oh yeah, that girl. What's up with her?"

Tifa shrugged. "…I don't really know… But she's the one I left Marlene with."

"Damn! Marlene!!" Barret sped towards the exit to the park. "Tifa. There ain't no turnin' back now."

Tifa took one last look at the park and ran after Barret.

Cloud made it halfway through the broken road in Sector 6 when Barret and Tifa caught up.

"Cloud!"

"Take me to Marlene!" Barret yelled over to Cloud.

"You're going to help Aeris?" Tifa asked the blonde.

"Yeah… But before that, there's something I want to know."

"What's that?"

"…it's about the Ancients," he said looking very troubled.

Cloud's vision flashed before him.

'In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients. I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!'

"Sephiroth…?" Cloud whispered to himself. He fell down to his knees.

"Are you all right?" Tifa knelt down next to Cloud.

"Pull it together, man!" Barret stared at the ex-SOLDIER worriedly.

They both helped Cloud up and waited for him to get back to normal. Cloud led them through Sector 6 and through the slums to Aeris's house. They knocked on the door and were greeted by Elmyra.

"Cloud……wasn't it?" she asked quietly. "It's about Aeris, isn't it?"

"…Sorry. The Shinra have her," Cloud apologized.

"I know. They took her from here."

"They were here?"

Elmrya looked heartbroken, "That's what Aeris wanted…"

"Why is Shinra after Aeris?"

Elmyra sighed and turned away. "Aeris is an Ancient. The sole survivor."

Barret knitted his brows together in confusion. "…What did you say? But, aren't you her mother?"

"…Not her real mother. Oh…it must have been 15 years ago… during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai."

_Flashback_

"One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave."

Elmyra stood by the train station as passengers piled out of the train. The train doors closed after everyone was out. Elmyra approached the guard who shook his head and told her there was no one else.

"My husband never came back. I wonder if something happened to him? No, I'm sure his leave was just canceled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day……"

Elmyra headed to the station like she always did, but this time she found a woman lying on the ground with her young daughter. The little girl ran to Elmyra and cried as her mother took her last breathes.

"You used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were, "Please take Aeris somewhere safe." My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home with me. Aeris and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything."

Aeris ran down the stairs as fast as she could and tripped at the bottom.

"She told me she escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely… and many other things."

End of flashback

"Returned to the planet?" Barret asked.

"I didn't know what she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said it was this planet… She was a mysterious child in many ways."

_Flashback_

"_Mom. Please don't cry." Aeris looked up at her mom with a strange expression._

"_Aeris just blurted that out all of a sudden. When I asked her if something happened…"_

"_Someone dear to you has just died," she told her mom quietly. "His spirit was coming to see you, but he already returned to the planet."_

"_At that time I didn't believe her. But… Several days later… We received a notice saying my husband died…and that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day…" _

_Aeris hid behind her mom. A tall man with black hair and a blue suit stood in the entrance of the house. "We want you to return Aeris to us. We've been searching for her for a long time."_

_Aeris' eyes were filled anger. "No! Never!"_

"_Aeris, you're a very special child. You are of special blood." Tseng explained to the girl. "Your real mother was an 'Ancient'."_

"_Of course I heard it. That she was an Ancient."_

"_The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness," he continued. "Aeris will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aeris's cooperation……"_

_Aeris shook her head madly. "He's wrong! I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"_

"_But Aeris, surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"_

"_No, I don't!" she yelled back and ran outside._

_End flash back_

"But I knew. I knew about her mysterious powers… She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."

"It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years…" Cloud said.

"The Shinra needed her, So I guess they wouldn't harm her," Elmyra answered.

"But why now……," Tifa asked quietly.

"She brought a little girl here with her. On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"Must be Marlene," Cloud concluded.

"Marlene!! Aeris was caught because of Marlene!?" Barret walked over to Elmyra and bowed. "I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter I'm …really…sorry…"

Elmyra took a step back and her face held a stern expression. "You're her father!? How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"

Barret hung his head. "…please don't start with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene, If I… But you gotta understand somethin'……I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene… But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't… the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her…always." Barret held his arms up and shook his head. "See? I'm goin' in circles, now."

Elmyra nodded, "…I think I understand what you're saying. She's upstairs asleep, Why don't you go and see her."

Barret walked up the stairs as quickly as he could.

"It's my fault… I was the one who got Aeris involved in this," Tifa said sadly.

"Don't say that. Aeris doesn't think that," Elmyra assured the bar tender.

Cloud headed up the stairs after Barret and opened the door to Aeris's bedroom.

"I'm so glad…… I'm so glad you're all right…," Barret said hugging Marlene tightly.

"Daddy, don't cry. Your whiskers hurt!" Marlene giggled.

Cloud was about to exit the room when Barret noticed him.

"Cloud! You gonna go help Aeris, right? She's done so much for me… If it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I'm comin', too!"

Marlene skipped over to Cloud. "Guess what? Guess what? Aeris was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!"

"Let's hope so," Cloud said with a strange half smile.

"I won't tell Tifa," the small girl whispered to him and giggled.

Cloud nodded and padded down the stairs. He started toward the door when Tifa stopped him. "You're going after Aeris, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm coming with you."

"We're going right into Shinra Headquarters… You gotta be prepared for the worst."

"I know," she said confidently. "Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here… I'll go crazy."

Barret stomped down the stairs and skidded to a halt in front of Elmyra. "Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?"

"Yes, I don't mind," she answered.

"This place is dangerous now. You better go somewhere else," Barret told Elmyra.

The old woman smiled. "…You're right. But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

Barret, Cloud, and Tifa all nodded to each other and rushed out of the house.


	13. Shinra Headquarters

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way

Please review everyone ^.^ lol I had fun writing this chapter!

* * *

The three rebels formed a small circle outside the house. The air was cool and still a bit hazy from the smoke from the explosion.

"How do we get to the Shinra Building?" Tifa asked the two men.

Barret shrugged, "There ain't no train that goes up there anymore…"

They all thought in silence. In fact, it was too silent. After the cries of the citizens in Sector 7 and the explosion, the silence was somewhat eerie.

Tifa sighed loudly, "……Well, let's just go to Wall Market. We might be able to find something there."

Neither Cloud nor Barret had any other ideas, so they decided to go with her suggestion.

They rushed to the Wall Market as quickly as they could. The air grew warmer and burnt smell lingered as they neared the entrance to Sector 7. Eventually they made it to the Wall Market and found it to be much in the same shape as it was before. Amazingly, there was very little debris.

The trio pushed through the crowds and received many dirty looks. Many of the people were talking loudly about the explosion and spreading rumors around. Somehow the Shinra had already informed almost all of Midgar that AVALANCHE was to blame for the disaster.

They stopped inside the weapon store to prepare for their plan. Cloud bought a Metal Knuckle for Tifa and some Mythril Armlets for all of them. He restocked on potions and supplies while they had the chance. Once they were prepared they went over to the other side of the shop.

"You goin' up to the plate? You better have a Battery," a middle-aged man told the three from behind the gate.

Cloud narrowed his eyes at the man. "You're gonna sell me something you just found?"

The man was taken aback. "Hey, you knew? But I repaired it, so it's all right."

Cloud was doubtful and didn't know whether to trust the man or not. "Why do I need a battery to climb up to the plate?"

"You'll find out when you get there. How 'bout 100 Gil for each?"

The ex-SOLDIER wasn't quite sure what to do. It was either not buy the batteries and end up needing them or he could buy them and end up not needing them. They didn't have much Gil left so it was a tough decision.

"All right, I'll take them," he finally decided. He handed over the Gil and took the batteries from the man.

They exited the shop and continued toward the back of the market. When they got to the back they ran into three kids.

"Wanna see somethin' awesome? Follow me!" one of the children chanted over to them. They all ran to the side of the mansion and Cloud followed.

There wasn't anything that was really significant other than a huge metal wall with a cable leading to the very top. Graffiti covered the wall, making it look like a rainbow mess of words.

"Everyone climbed up this wire. Looks scary……Brrr," One of the kids said.

"Can we climb it?" Tifa asked the girl.

The girl smiled and nodded. "Yeah. It leads to the Upper World."

Barret looked hopeful. "Awright! We'll climb this wire!"

Cloud shook his head and stared at the top of the wall. "There's no way we can do this. You know how far it goes up?"

Barret waved his arms in the air and scowled at Cloud. "There IS a way! Look! What's that look like?"

Cloud raised a brow at the man. "Just a normal wire."

"Oh yeah? Well to me it looks like a golden shiny wire of hope."

For once Cloud agreed. "You're right. This is the only way to save Aeris… Ok, that was a bad analogy, but, Barret, I understand how you feel." He turned to Tifa who nodded with a smile and then turned to Barret who looked triumphant. "Let's go!"

The girl moved out of the way and the three started the climb. The wire was slippery and hard to climb but they eventually made it to the top of the wall and took a rest.

"Oh man! This is horrible…"

"Hey, scary, huh? Dad told me that it's the Shinra's doing." The two kids talked to each other.

From the top of the wall, the three could now clearly see what was left of Sector 7. The busy slums were now reduced to a pile of rocks and glowing hot metal. After a few minutes of resting they started climbing again.

The wire eventually broke off and they were forced to go through an obstacle course of broken pieces of the plate, more wires, and chunks of railroad tracks. Cloud was relieved when he came across a slot for a battery. He pushed the battery into the box.

"I guess I'll just have to believe the shopkeeper."

The propeller at the top started to rotate slowly and then came to a stop. The way the propeller blades stopped made a sort of bridge for AVALANCHE to cross to get higher up.

Cloud continued placing batteries in the slots and ascended to the top of the plate. It seemed to take forever, but it was the only option they had. When they made it to the top they were right in front of the Shinra headquarters.

The building loomed over them like a huge monster. It was the heart of Midgar and the home of the Shinra.

"Hey, you oughta know this building well," Barret yelled over to Cloud.

Cloud thought for a moment. "…Not really, now that I think about it. This's the first time I've ever been to the Headquarters."

"I heard about this place before. Every floor above the 60th is special and not easy to get to even for employees. Must be where they took Aeris. The security's pretty light now. Awright, let's go!!" Barret started towards the glass doors, gunarm ready.

"Wait a second! You're not thinking of just going right through the main entrance, are you?" Tifa yelled at the dark skinned man.

"Well what else does it look like!? I'm gonna kick some Shinra butt and……"

Tifa disagreed with Barret's plan. "That's not going to work! We've got to find another way…"

Barret waved his arms around angrily. "Ain't gonna be no other way! If we keep wastin' time like this Aeris'll…"

"I know that! But if we get caught here… Hey, Cloud…What should we do?"

The blonde rested his hand on his hip and stared a hole into the ground. "Let's sneak in quietly."

Tifa smirked at Barret. "See? Let's be careful and find a different route!"

They scouted the area, desperately searching for some other way to get inside the building. They soon found a dark entrance on the side of the building that seemed to lead to another door. All were relieved when they discovered that the door was unlocked and that it led to the back entrance to all of the floors.

"Yo… You really gonna take these stairs all the way up?" Barret asked staring up with a doubtful expression.

"Well we've got to get to Aeris to help her somehow." Tifa said starting up the first flight of stairs.

"Talk about out of the way…"

"I don't have time to argue with you! I'm going!" Tifa yelled from the third flight.

"Y, yo Tifa! Don't go off alone!" Barret's deep voice echoed through the staircase, only on the second flight.

"Don't know… Why…the hell… We gotta… climb…" Barret began to complain on the tenth flight.

"…because we don't want to start a commotion until we've saved Aeris." Cloud said in an agitated tone. "I doubt that's possible though…"

"…heh heh heh." Barret laughed chuckled evily.

"Knock it off. You're giving me the creeps." Cloud said, now in the lead up the stairs.

"So even you will fight for someone else. I had you figured wrong I guess." The leader of AVALANCHE confessed to the ex-SOLDIER, still running up the stairs.

"Who cares what you figured!" Cloud yelled back to him.

Barret took a few second rest at the 22nd floor, but Cloud and Tifa continued running.

"I'm just sayin' mebbe I was wrong…" he continued to run again.

"heh heh heh……" Tifa chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean, Tifa?" Cloud asked, starting to get tired from all of the running.

"…how much farther do these stairs go on?" Barret complained, breathing heavily and sweat running down his face.

"Why don't you ask them?" Tifa said sarcastically.

"It's not one of them endless stairways or somethin', d'ya think?"

Tifa was starting to get annoyed. "Of course not!!"

Barret rested for a few more seconds. "Right… couldn't be that…"

"Are we there yet?" Barret asked when they were up to about floor 30.

"Not yet." Tifa answered.

"…there yet?" he asked again after a few more flights.

"I said not yet!"

"Yo…"

"Look, don't even ask! We're way way way way far away from being there, ok!?" Tifa yelled at him angrily.

"Damn, man! I've had it! I'm going back!"

"And take just as long going down as you did coming up?" Tifa asked Barret.

The large man was silent for a few seconds and stopped in the middle of the stairs.

"C'mon, Barret. Pull it together!" Tifa tried to encourage the exhausted man.

"Yeah, well all I know is I'm just flesh 'n' blood… 'cept for this arm of mine. Don't treat me like I'm some ex-member of SOLDIER or somethin'……"

Tifa put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. "What about me!? I'm human too! Oh, do what you want, I'm going on!" With that, she started up the stairs.

She looked around nervously and bit a piece of her hair. "Yaah! Barret! You go first!"

"What're ya ignorant? I didn't mean that…" he replied to the bartender.

"All right, all right! Cloud, you go on ahead too!!" she said with a nervous smile.

Cloud and Barret shook their heads and went on ahead of her.

"Yo… What floor is this?" Barret asked after climbing a few more flights.

"…I gave up counting." Tifa retorted.

"Why they gotta build these buildings so damn tall? That Shinra… They're just no damn good."

About 10 minutes later they were still climbing the endless flights of stairs.

"huff… Man, I'm beat…" Barret said, his pace slowing down. "Marlene, Daddy wanted to see your face one more time…"

"Would you stop acting like a retard and climb!?" Tifa shouted. "It's just a bit more!" They continued up a few more levels. "…maybe."

After another 5 minutes of climbing they finally made it to the top.

"F…finally… M…made it… N…never wanna see… no more stairs the rest of my life…" Barret said trying to catch his breath.

"Huff…puff… this really takes it out of you…" Tifa added. "But this is it. We'd better get ready…!"

With that, they entered the 60th floor.


	14. Saving Aeris

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

Please read and review everyone ^.^

* * *

The second they entered the room they encountered resistance.

"Destroy the intruders!" one of the red clad guards commanded to the other two. They ran at Cloud full speed, machine guns blazing. Unfortunately, these weren't any old guards. These had red suits of armor that covered their entire bodies and two machine guns built into their arms. The Shinra obviously didn't want Cloud and the others to get in.

The battle only lasted a few minutes. The three came out with only small scratches and bruises. Nothing that couldn't be healed. However, after running up to the 59th floor they were already exhausted. They knew they wouldn't hold up much longer if they continued fighting like this. The group needed a break, and soon.

"What's this?" Cloud saw something on the floor after the battle and picked it up. It was a small card that had the number 60 on it. Tifa smiled at Cloud and they continued on their way.

They rushed to the elevators on the other side of the floor but the security was heavy. It seemed like they ran into more robo-guards every other minute. All the fighting was making them tired but they had to get to Aeris.

The three found the elevators a few minutes later. Cloud pressed the button on the wall and they waited.

The elevator dinged and they stepped inside the glass-enclosed platform. Cloud pressed 60 on the small terminal and swiped the card.

"This is the real thing. Don't let your guard down," Barret warned the blonde.

"I hope Aeris is all right," Tifa added, a worried look on her soft features.

The elevator dinged again and came to a slow stop. The three snuck out before anyone could see them and went around the back through a corridor. This room had an abundance of tall golden statues and guards were patrolling everywhere.

"Lookit that, all them guards is runnin' around," Barret whispered to his companions. "Cloud, you go on ahead and signal us when it's safe to come."

Cloud nodded and hid behind one the statues to wait for the guards to pass. He made his way statue to statue until he made it to a tall pillar in the middle of the room. He signaled to Barret and Tifa to follow. As they were sneaking along the statues, which was considerably harder for Barret because of his size, Cloud snuck to the other side of the room.

He signaled for them to continue to the other side when the guards weren't looking. Tifa's heart was practically pounding through her chest. She didn't want to be caught and she knew that the roboguards were just on the other side of the statues but this was the only way to save Aeris.

She thought that they could have fought the guards, but she soon found that there were way to many. As tired as they were the three would never have been able to take them. Even if they did, they wouldn't have been able to move another inch.

When they made it to the room on the other side all were relieved.

"Ok! We gonna rock!" Barret announced in a whisper-yell.

Tifa pursed her lips and looked over to Barret worriedly. "Remember, we're here to save Aeris."

"Hell, I know that!"

They walked up the stairs to the next level and carefully headed out the door in order to avoid any more guards.

This room had a large tree in the middle and many circular tables all over. A red haired woman in dress clothes approached Cloud. "I don't remember seeing your face before… You new here? Say, you're cute. Let me teach you some…things."

Cloud rose a brow and smirked, "Things?"

The lady rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Wipe that stupid look off your face. I was only going to teach you how to get to the next floor. The higher ups in the company use the floors above the 60th floor. But you can't get there without a keycard. Get a keycard and you can use the elevators freely."

The elevator next to them then dinged and a man walked out.

"…voila! You hear that sound and the door opens. Just remember there are different types of cards. One keycard alone won't let you go everywhere. For example, 'Keycard 60' only takes you to the 60th floor. 'Keycard 65' only takes you to the 65th floor. It's a security system worthy of Shinra. After all, all the power in Midgar and the world, for that matter, is controlled by them." The lady checked her watch and her eyes widened. "Oh, I have to go. Gotta get back to work!" she smiled and waved while running over to the other side of the room.

Cloud nodded and went off to find someone else that could help the three.

"This is the lounge floor. Above us are the special floors for the big wigs in the company," One man explained. "It's tough working under someone. Tires you out."

"The hell are you? What're you doin' around here?" a man in a grey suit glared at them suspiciously.

Cloud responded with silence and tried to seem like he wasn't causing any trouble.

"Oh, I see. So you must be that whatcha call it… Shinra, Inc. Repair Devision!! You know, it looks like this building is starting to fall apart. This door was just pushed open. You ought to fix this right away. Oh yeah, and take a look on the other floors too. I'll give you this."

The man handed Cloud another card, this one labeled 62. He nodded and thanked the man. The trio made their way back to the elevator. Cloud swiped the new card and selected 62 from the list of floors.

When they reached the floor they looked around the different rooms. Most of them were lined with bookshelves but one was an office with a cheerful looking old man.

"Hmm? Oh, and who might you be?" the man asked. "You all must be those…ahem… Me? I'm Domino, the Mayor of Midgar. Actually, I'm Mayor in name only. The city and everything in it is really run by Shinra, Inc. My only real job is watching over Shinra's documents… Me! The Mayor! A librarian! Ohh…… You want to get upstairs? I tell you what, if you can guess the password, I'll give you my keycard. Yes, that's it. Guess the password and I'll give you my keycard! Get it on the first try and I'll even throw in a special item!"

Cloud nodded and approached the man on the outside of the door.

"Did you speak with the Mayor?" the man named Hart asked.

Cloud nodded and told him about the password.

"What? A password? Oh, I get it… He's got way too much time on his hands. But you can't really blame him, Everything in Midgar is controlled by President Shinra. Maybe I can help you. As a public servant, it's my job to serve the needs of the people. So here's a hint…for 500 gil," He added.

Cloud shook his head and had a disgusted look on his face. Nothing was free now days. He scowled and went back to the Mayor.

"Got it?" he asked. "Then tell me. So, what's the password?"

Cloud thought for a minute and decided on the first word that came to mind. "Best?"

"BEST!!" the Mayor shouted. "God, I love the sound of that! BEST!! I AM the best…ME!! No matter what anyone else says, you'd better believe it……hmm. Well, ok. Here, take it." The Mayor handed Cloud another card that was labeled 65. "I never thought you'd get it on the first try… Just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover. Oh well, a promise is a promise. Take this, too." He handed Cloud a blue orb that was an Elemental Materia.

"Why would I do something like this, you ask? To mess with them, of course! Shinra's been torturing me forever. That's why I was a little rough on you all just now. Now go up there and really make them suffer. This ought to make us even! Heh heh heh……"

Cloud thanked the Mayor and all three went back to the elevator. The blonde pressed the button to go to the 63rd floor. When the doors opened they found a small maze of doors. Apparently there were plenty of items to be collected too but the catch was that they could only open 3 doors at a time. Cloud went through the maze and picked up as many items as he could. They then headed back to the elevator and went to the 64th floor. This floor was a sort of exercise floor. They took a quick rest to get their energy back and then continued to the 65th floor.

The 65th floor had a giant Model of Midgar. There were small rooms on the sides that had metal boxes. Cloud approached the giant model and examined it carefully.

"A model of Midgar …born from Mako sucked right out of the earth," he said to himself quietly.

The three opened all of the boxes and found parts of the model that were missing. They placed the Midgar parts in the correct places and the last box opened with a click. They opened the last box and found a keycard labeled 66. AVALANCHE went back to the elevator and went up to the next floor.

Many people were piling into the huge room in the middle, so it was too risky for them to barge in. They searched around the floor for and air duct so they could look down into the meeting room. Unfortunately, the only one they found was in the bathroom. Barret lifted Cloud and Tifa into the duct and then climbed up himself.

"Geez--! That's a lotta suits!" Barret whispered to Cloud as they looked down on the meeting.

"We have the damage estimates for Sector 7," Reeve said to the President. "Considering those factories we already set up and all the investments, the damage is estimated at approximately 10 Billion gil… The estimated cost to rebuild Sector 7 is…"

"We're not rebuilding," President Shinra suddenly interrupted.

"What?" Reeve looked shocked.

"We're leaving Sector 7 as it is and restarting the Neo-Midgar plan," the President explained.

"…then the Ancients?"

President Shinra had an evil grin on his fat face. "The Promised Land will soon be ours. I want you to raise the Mako rates 15% in every area."

A chubby man in a tan suit stood up in his seat and threw his arms up. "Rate hike! Rate hike! Tra, la, la! And please include our Space Program in the budget!" the man, named Palmer, celebrated.

The President glared at the overjoyed man. "Reeve and Scarlet will divide the extra income from the rate increase."

"Oh man!" Palmer pouted loudly.

"Sir. If you raise the rates, the people will lose confidence…," Reeve tried to explain to Shinra.

"It'll be all right. The ignorant citizens won't lose confidence, they'll trust Shinra, Inc. even more."

"Ha ha ha!" Heidegger, who had remained silent before, started to laugh obnoxiously. "After all, we're the ones who saved Sector 7 from AVALANCHE!"

"That dirty #$*$^" Barret whispered to Cloud.

An older man in a white lab coat with long black hair then shuffled into the room.

"Hojo. How's the girl?" President Shinra asked the scientist.

Hojo pushed his glasses up sneered. "As a specimen, she is inferior to her mother. I'm still in the process of comparing her to her mother, Ifalna, but for now the difference is 18%."

"How long will the research take?"

Hojo stared up at the ceiling and smirked. "Probably 120 years. It's probably impossible to finish in our lifetime. Or in the lifetime of the specimen too, for that matter." Hojo turned to the door. "That's why we're thinking of breeding her. Then we could create one that could withstand our research for a long time."

"What about the Promised Land? Won't it hinder our plans?"

Hojo rested his chin in his hand and thought for a moment. "That's what I need to plan. The mother is strong… and yet has her weaknesses." He chuckled evilly and left the room, a permanent scowl glued onto his gaunt face.

"That concludes our meeting." Shinra announced.

All of the members of the meeting got up and left except for Scarlet. She rose from her seat and looked at the ceiling. "Something stinks…" she said and walked out.

"They were talking about Aeris…right?" Cloud whispered to his two teammates.

"I dunno," Barret answered dumbly.

"Probably," Tifa then answered.

"Let's follow 'em," Cloud whispered to both of them and started climbing out of the duct.

They went around to the other side of the floor where the stairs were, but hid when they almost ran into Hojo.

"Hojo…huh…?" Cloud said to himself quietly.

They waited for the scientist to go up the stairs and then followed him.

"I remember him." Barret said when they reached the top. "That Hojo guy. He's in charge of the Shinra's Science Department. Cloud, don't you know him?"

Cloud shook his head. "This is the first time I've actually ever seen him. So…that's what he looks like…"

The group maneuvered through the science department and found Hojo in front of a glass tank. Inside was a fire red beast that looked like a mix between a lion and a dog. They hid behind a crate and watched as another scientist approached Hojo.

"Is this today's specimen?" The scientist asked.

"Yes. We're starting right away. Raise it to the upper level."

The other scientist left and Hojo continued to stare at the creature. "My precious specimen…"

Hojo left the room and Tifa went to look at the dog like thing. "Precious specimen…? Is it going to be used for a biological experiment?"

Cloud went and looked at a metal tank that was behind them. He looked through the small window on the tank. "Jenova…" There was a purple humanoid creature floating on the inside of the tank. It had the body of a woman but it was definitely alien. Not only was it alien, it was missing its head.

Cloud's ears began to ring again. His head throbbed with a dull pain and he fell to his knees.

Tifa ran to his aid and helped the ex-SOLDIER up. "Jenova… Sephiroth's… So…they've brought it here," Cloud whispered.

"Cloud, be strong!" Tifa stared at Cloud worriedly.

"Did you see it?" the blonde asked.

"See what?" Barret walked over to the tank and looked through the window.

"It's moving……still alive?" Cloud could barely think straight. His body trembled and his eyes were completely blank.

"Where's its $#&*& head? This whole thing's stupid. Let's keep goin'," Barret yelled, which seemed to snap Cloud out of his trance.

They ran over to the other side of the lab and found another metal container. Cloud opened it and took the bright green poison orb that lay inside. They piled into the small elevator and headed up to the second floor of the science department.

"Aeris!" Cloud yelled over to the flower girl who was stuck inside another glass tank.

"Aeris? Oh, is that her name? What do you want?" Hojo sneered at the three, never once taking his eyes off the tank.

"We're taking Aeris back."

Hojo pushed his glasses up his nose and made a disgusted face. "Outsiders……"

"Shoulda noticed it earlier, you…," Barret yelled at the scientist.

"There's so many frivolous things in this world."

Barret pointed his gunarm at Hojo and prepared to fire.

"Are you going to kill me? I don't think you should. The equipment here is extremely delicate. Without me, who could operate it? Hmm?"

Cloud lowered his sword, "Ugh."

Hojo had an evil smirk on his face. "That's right. I recommend you think things out logically before you make any rash moves. Now, bring in the Specimen."

At once the scientist in the control room pressed a button and the beast from the other chamber rose up into Aeris's chamber.

"Cloud, help!" she yelled out as the beast growled at her.

The ex-SOLDIER turned to Hojo and glared. "What do you think you're doin'?"

"Lending a helping hand to an endangered species… Both of them are on the brink of extinction…," he explained simply. "If I don't help, all these animals will disappear."

"…animal? That's terrible! Aeris is a human being!" Tifa shouted.

If looks could kill hojo would've been dead 10 times over.

"You're gonna pay!" Barret pointed his gunarm at the tank.

"Barret! Can't you do anything?" Cloud yelled over to the leader.

"Awright!! Step back!"

"Stop!!" Hojo yelled, fear suddenly plastered on his face.

Barret opened fire on the tank. It started to glow a bright white.

Hojo ran to the tank and tried to look inside. "Wh…what are you do-- Oh! My precious specimens…" He opened up the tank and the creature pounced. It dugs it's teeth and claws into Hojo, giving Cloud enough time to get Aeris out.

"Now's our chance to get Aeris!"

Cloud lent Aeris a hand and pulled the flower girl up. "Thanks, Cloud."

A low buzzing was heard and Cloud stared at the tank.

"Cloud… what's wrong?" Tifa asked.

"…The elevator is moving."

The beast finally let go of Hojo but still wouldn't let him up. "This is no ordinary specimen. This is a very ferocious specimen!"

The dog like thing turned to Cloud and stared at him with it's one eye, the other was scarred closed. "He's rather strong. I'll help you all out." It said in a smooth voice.

Tifa's eyes widened in shock, "It talked!?"

It did it's best to show a toothy grin. "I'll talk as much as you want later, Miss."

"We'll take care of that monster," Cloud told the others. "Somebody take Aeris somewhere safe… Tifa, I'm countin' on you!"

Tifa nodded and ran off in the other direction with Aeris.

"What's your name?" Cloud asked the fire red creature.

"Hojo has named me, Red XIII. A name with no meaning whatsoever to me. Call me whatever you wish."

"Come on!" Cloud commanded the others. With that he pulled out his sword and a disgusting looking monster appeared in front of them. It was something that had obviously come out of Hojo's lab. Even if it had once been human, there was no way of telling that now.

It had three yellow sphere shaped bugs that protected it from the front. It breathed a purple smoke on the three which ended up poisoning Red. Red followed up with a fire spell that hit all four of the monsters.

Cloud brought his sword down on one of the bugs and sliced it in half. Barret charged up a huge ball of fire and unleashed it at the deformed thing. It swiped it overgrown arm at Cloud and ripped a gash in his arm. Red cast another fire that engulfed the second bug in red hot flames.

The monster kept spewing poisonous smoke on the three companions, making them sicker by the second. Cloud felt like he wanted to hurl but he had to keep fighting. The monster smelled like rotting flesh and it was getting to all three of them.

They continued their attacks and finally got rid of all the bugs. Red pounced on the monster and dug his fangs deep into it's side. Unfortunately the bugs regenerated again making the fight even harder. Cloud had successfully chopped one of it's arms off but it still wouldn't fall. Barret aimed a few shots at it's head and it was over.

The monster's body started to ooze with slime and convulse disgustingly. Red cast one last fire spell and it burned into dust.

The three healed with some antidotes and potions.

"Aeris, you all right?" Cloud asked her when she appeared beside him.

"She seems all right, …in many ways." Tifa told him quietly.

"I have a right to choose, too. I don't like two-legged things." Red said, still recovering from the battle.

"What are you?" Barret asked Red with a puzzled look.

Red remained quiet for a few seconds. "An informed question. But difficult to answer. I am what you see…You must have many questions, but first, let's get out of here. I'll lead the way."

"Cloud… so you did come for me." Aeris smiled at Cloud, clearly thankful for the deed.

Red jumped over the railing and sat in front of Aeris. "I apologize for what happened back there. I was merely acting to throw Hojo off guard……"

"Now we've saved Aeris, ain't no need to be in this buildin'! So let's get the hell outta here!" Barret yelled over to the others.

"If all five of us go together, we'll be noticed. Let's break up in two groups," Cloud suggested.

"We'll be going first! Meet at the 66th Floor Elevator." Tifa said, choosing to go with Red.

"Don't be late. Do you know where the Elevator is? The 66th Floor!" Red warned the other three and ran off with the bartender.

Cloud grabbed the yellow Enemy Skill Materia that the monster left when it died. They went up the stairs and went up to the other scientist.

"No! Please don't kill me. I only did what Hojo told me to do. To prove it to you…here, this is the key card to the 68th Floor. Would I be doing this if I was the enemy?" Cloud took the card and went through the passage to the stairs. They ran into a few SOLDIER's on the way there but they were only 3rd class. They swiped the keycard at the door and went down the stairs. They went all the way down to the 66th floor and entered the small elevator.

Cloud was about to press a button when a bald man in a blue suit walked in.

"H, hey! What is it?"

The man pointed up, "Would you press 'Up' please?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Turks? Must be a trap…"

Tseng then walked in after Rude, "It must have been a real thrill for you… Did you enjoy it?"

"Ggh…"

The Turks led all four of them to the top floor of the Shinra building.

"You all got caught, too?" Cloud asked the others, all in handcuffs. "Where is Aeris!?" he yelled at the President, who was sitting behind his desk.

"In a safe place. She's the last surviving Ancient…" He rose up from his desk and paced in front of the four. "Don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now they are just a forgotten page in history."

"Cetra… That girl, is she a survivor of the Cetra?" Red asked.

"Cetra, or the Ancients will show us the way to the 'Promised Land.' I'm expecting a lot out of her."

Red looked confused. "The Promised Land? Isn't that just a legend?"

"Even so, it's just too appealing to not to pursue," The Presiden explained. "It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile… if the land is fertile…"

"Then there's gotta be Mako!" Barret exclaimed.

Shinra smirked, "Exactly. That is why our money sucking Mako Reactor is necessary. The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory…"

Barret struggled in his restraints. "$#*^%! Quit dreamin'!"

"Oh really, don't you know? These days all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power. Well, that is all for our meeting."

Rude lead the four off down the stairs. "Come on! Outta his way!"

"Hold it! I got a lot I wanna say to you!" Barret yelled back at the President. Rude pushed him down the stairs away from the President.

Shinra brushed off his suit. "If you need something else, talk to my secretary."

The Turks led them each into small cells. Aeris was in one, Tifa and Cloud in another, and Red and Barret in the last one.

"Psst (Can we get out?)" Tifa whispered to Cloud.

"Leave it to me," he whispered back.

Tifa turned over on the metal bed and smiled at Cloud, "Cloud, you're so brave!"

Cloud knocked on the wall that separated him from Aeris. "Cloud, are you there?" she asked.

"Aeris!? You safe?" Cloud asked the flower girl.

"Yeah, I'm all right. I knew that Cloud would come for me."

"Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right?"

"The deal was for one date, right?"

"……………Oh, I get it," Tifa whispered to herself.

"…!? Tifa! Tifa, you're there too!"

"EXCUSE me." Tifa rolled her eyes. "You know, Aeris. I have a question."

"What?"

"Does the Promised Land really exist?"

"…I don't know. All I know is… The Cetra were born from the Planet, speak with the Planet, and unlock the Planet. And……then… The Cetra will return to the Promised Land. A land that promises supreme happiness."

"…What does that mean?" Tifa asked a little confused.

"More that words……I don't know."

"…Speak with the Planet?" Cloud asked.

"Just what does the Planet say?" Tifa added.

"It's full of people and noisy. That's why I can't make out what they are saying."

"You hear it now?" the ex-SOLDIER asked.

"I, I only heard it at the Church in the Slums. Mother said that Midgar was no longer safe. That is… my real mother." She sat on the bed and sighed. "Someday I'll get out of Midgar… Speak with the Planet and find my Promised Land. …That's what mom said. I thought I would stop hearing her voice as I grew up, but…"

"I wonder how Barret is doing…?" Cloud whispered to himself.

"Hey!" Barret yelled. "Aeris is an Ancient and the real name of the Ancients is Cetra. The Ancients know where the Promised Land is and the Shinra is searching for that Promised Land. I only heard stories 'bout the Promised Land. I don't know if it really exists. Is that right? The Shinra believe that the Promised Land is full of Mako energy. Which means, if the Shinra get there, they'll suck up all the Mako energy…and the land'll wither away. The Planet's gonna get weaker. I can't just leave 'em be. I'm recruitin' new members!! Me, Tifa, Cloud… and Aeris too. How 'bout you?" Red curled up in a ball and closed his eye. "You're so damn boring."

"I wonder how Red XIII is doing…?" Cloud asked himself.

"…………Grandpa," He sighed heavily.

"Grandpa!? Ha, ha, ha…… Grandpa, hmm……ha, ha, ha……" Barret laughed loudly.

Red looked up and glared at the dark skinned man. "What's so funny?"

"Nothin' ……ha, ha"

Cloud then walked to the side of the small cell and sat down against the wall. He rested his head on the metal wall and closed his eyes, drifting into a deep sleep.


	15. The Nightmare Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

Read and Review please ^.^ (question for everyone: Which characters should I use when AVALANCHE gets out of Midgar? Give me the answers soon, majority wins ^.^)

* * *

Cloud woke up sometime early in the morning. Everyone else was still asleep. He rose up from the cold floor as quietly as he could and scanned the room. At first he thought he was hallucinating, but he did a double take of the door. "The door's open… When did it open?"

The blonde poked his head out the entryway and surveyed the area. He cautiously snuck down the deserted hall and found a guard lying on the ground, a pool of sticky blood surrounding him on the floor.

"What's happened?" Cloud asked himself in a whisper. He reached down to check the man's pulse. _'Definitely dead…'_

He then ran back to his cell and skidded to a halt in front of the bed. "Tifa… Wake up!"

Tifa propped herself up on one arm and yawned loudly. "What's wrong?" she asked in a groggy voice.

"Something's wrong. Look outside." The ex-SOLDIER explained while pointing to the door.

Tifa ran out of the cell and examined the dead man outside. "I wonder what happened…"

"He should have the key on him…" Cloud said searching through the guard's jacket pockets. After a few more minutes of searching he found the keys to the other two cells. "Come on, Tifa, get Aeris. I'll go help Barret and the others."

Tifa nodded and proceeded to open up Aeris's cell. Cloud went over to the other side and opened Barret's cell. "Barret, Red XIII …come with me. Something's wrong."

Barret's eyes widened in surprised, as he looked around the room confused. "How'd you get in? Why's the door open!?"

Barret and Red both rushed out of the cell and discovered the dead man. "The hell's goin' on!?" Barret demanded angrily.

"No human could've done this," Red said quietly staring at the guard. "I'll go on ahead," He told the two, exiting the small jail.

"I'll clean up back here, so you guys go ahead. And don't get caught by Shinra!" Barret told the other three.

"Come on, let's follow Red XIII!" Tifa said to Cloud.

When they got out of the cells they were astounded at the sight that lay before them. Boxes were busted everywhere, and glass was shattered all over the place. To make matters worse, bodies were strewn and a trail of blood stained the floor of the lab.

Cloud scanned the room and instantly noticed the chamber that had Jenova imprisoned. "…Did it get away? Jenova…?" he asked, walking cautiously over to further inspect the scene.

"Jenova Specimen… Looks like it went to the upper floor using that elevator for the specimens," Red observed, following the trail of blood with his watchful eye.

They all decided they should follow the trail up the elevator and figure out what their next move should be. Tifa closed her fists in case of an attack. She was uneasy, especially since Cloud seemed on guard.

They squeezed into the elevator and started the ascent. The entire lab reeked of blood and chemicals. The elevator stopped and the three joined Red.

"It looks like it leads up…"

The trail seemed to get thinner as they headed down the hall. The stairs, however, were painted with blood and the walls had deep gashes embedded in them.

The 69th floor was just as deserted as the lab had been. All of the employees that were working diligently the day before were either dead or missing. Hideous monsters attacked them more frequently as they went on, but most weren't particularly strong.

When they made it to the top floor of the building they couldn't believe the horror that faced them.

Barret readied his gun, but froze in place upon seeing the president's desk. "He's dead… The leader of Shinra, Inc. is dead…"

Tifa went to the other side of the desk to take a closer glance at the dead president. A sword, easily 6 feet long, impaled the president straight through his back. "Then this sword must be…!?" She exclaimed, fear plastered to her face.

Cloud's eyes widened in shock, "Sephiroth's!!"

Tifa's face looked even more pale than usual. "…Sephiroth is alive?"

"…Looks like it. Only Sephiroth can use that sword."

Barret didn't seem to comprehend the severity of the situation. "Who cares who did it!? This is the end of the Shinra now!"

"Uh!" A man in a tan suit ran out from behind a pillar and tried to make an escape. Barret and Cloud darted in front of the fat man and intercepted him.

"P, p, p, please, don't kill me!" he stuttered.

"What happened?" Cloud demanded.

"Se…Sephiroth. Sephiroth came."

"Did you see him? Did you see Sephiroth?"

"Yeah, I saw him! I saw him with my own eyes!" Palmer kept stuttering.

Cloud wasn't sure whether to believe the petrified man. "You really saw him?"

Palmer struggled in their grasps but to no avail. "Uh! Would I lie to you at a time like this!? And I heard his voice too! Um, he was saying something about not letting us have the Promised Land."

"Then what?" Tifa asked, still looking a bit flustered. "Does that mean that the Promised Land really exists and that Sephiroth's here to save it from Shinra?"

"So he's a good guy then?" Barret wondered out loud.

Cloud shook his head. He looked the most troubled out of them all. "Save the Promised Land? A good guy? No way!! It's not that simple! I know him! Sephiroth's mission is different!"

Palmer finally felt the grip loosen and made his getaway. Just then they heard a loud hum and looked to the glass wall to find a helicopter hovering on the other side.

"Rufus! &*%$! I forgot about him!" Barret exclaimed while readying his gunarm.

"Who's that?" Tifa asked clearly confused, looking back and forth between Barret and the helicopter.

"Vice President Rufus. The President's son."

At that, they all raced outside to find out who the new president was. They hoped he'd be better than his father.

"So… So Sephiroth was actually here… by the way." Rufus was in the middle of speaking to Palmer when Cloud and the others arrived. "Who are you guys?"

The vice president looked nothing like his father. His long white coat rippled in the wind and his blonde hair was slicked back. His eyes seemed to share the same evil glare his father had. His thin lips turned up in a sinister smirk and they knew at that instant that his son was no different.

"I'm Cloud, former SOLDIER First Class!"

"I'm from AVALANCHE!" Barret glared daggers at Rufus.

"Same here!" Tifa chimed in.

"…a flower girl from the slums."

"…a research specimen."

All five introduced themselves. Rufus narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "What a crew. Well, I'm Rufus. The President of Shinra, Inc."

"You only President, 'cause yer old man died!" Barret shouted at the young man.

The new president methodically ran a hand through his hair and chuckled evilly at the group. "That's right. I'll let you hear my new appointment speech."

Rufus cleared his throat while he paced in front of the five, holding his chin in his hand. "…Old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them."

Tifa glared angrily at Rufus. "He likes to make speeches just like his father."

Cloud turned to Barret. "Get outta this building with Aeris!"

Barret wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "What?"

"I'll explain later! Barret! This is the real crisis for the Planet!"

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

Cloud ground his teeth together and took a step towards the dark skinned man. "I'll tell you later! Just take my word for it now! I'll go after I take care of him!"

Barret shook his head deciding not to argue any further. "Awright, Cloud!"

Barret, Red, Tifa, and Aeris all took off and headed down to the floor below, leaving Cloud to face off with the new president.

"Cloud… I just thought of something." Aeris stopped in the middle of the room, glancing back up at the stairs.

Tifa put a hand on the flower girl's shoulder reassuringly. "I'll wait for Cloud! Everyone, get to the elevator!"


	16. Goodbye Midgar

Disclaimer: i do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

alright, everyone, review please! i need to know what characters everyone wants me to use once AVALANCHE gets out of Midgar. AKA next chapter. They split up, so which other 2 besides Cloud should i have join him on the road to Kalm. Thanks everyone ^.^

* * *

Aeris followed Barret and Red through the blood stained corridors. The situation had just gotten worse and worse since Shinra had destroyed the pillar. It was all confusing to her. One minute Shinra was ending the lives of thousands and the next minute everyone in his building was dead.

Red looked back to give Aeris a toothy grin, displaying all of his brilliantly white canines. The flower girl couldn't help but smile at how silly it looked on the creature.

They all stopped once they arrived at the stairwell. "Hmm, it's going to get pretty ugly from here on. We should check on our equipment," Aeris suggested after hearing some inhuman sounds coming from the next room over.

Barret and Red both nodded in agreement. They passed around materia for the next few minutes, trying to decide how to prepare themselves for whatever lay on the other side of the door.

Every few seconds Barret glanced at the door, as if something would break through the metal and attack them at any minute.

When they were done Aeris got off the floor and brushed off her dress. She gave the others a nervous smile and held her staff close to her body. Her knuckles turned white from her tight grip on the weapon. She wasn't a particularly good fighter, not anywhere near as good as Tifa. At least that's what she thought.

Barret and Red stood behind her as she approached the door. Secretly she had wanted Barret to lead, but she didn't want to seem weak. She was trying to prove to the group that she wasn't defenseless.

All three braced themselves as the door opened. Aeris closed her eyes and held out her staff waiting for something to pounce and attack.

A few seconds went by…nothing.

The flower girl slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times at the sight in front of her. It was just the elevator room, not a single fiend in sight. Barret let out the breath that he had seemingly been holding onto forever and lowered his gunarm.

They decided to head down to the 1st floor and see what kind of shape it was in. They entered the glass-enclosed elevator and Aeris put her staff down to select the right button on the console.

Just as she selected the first floor shots rang out and before they could react the glass shattered around them. Aeris fumbled for her staff and turned to face a monstrous robot on the elevator next to them.

The machine rumbled and shook and readied its guns for a second assault. The elevators began to descend and the struggle began.

Aeris couldn't reach the machine with her staff so she tried sending a bolt of lightning at one of its main guns. Just as it hit it's target, the guns began to spin and a hundred more bullets were let loose in Barrets direction.

The barrage just barely missed Barret as he rolled out of the way. One of the bullets grazed his skin on his shoulder but that wasn't enough to keep him down. The minute the machine stopped firing Barret unleashed his fury on the guns.

Red hopped out of Barret's way and quickly cast a fire spell at their metal opponent.

The battle raged on in the same way for the next 10 minutes, Aeris and Red casting spells continuously, and Barret firing like a mad man.

The Shinra weapon fired one last time at Red who dodged nearly all of the bullets. The machine suffered a critical hit from Red's Sled Fang and was finally defeated. The machine exploded into bits and Aeris fell to her knees in exhaustion.

Barret was resting his arms on his knees and breathing heavily. The adrenaline from the battle had masked the pain in his arm that he now began to feel. He downed a potion and started to feel somewhat better, but was still tired.

Just when they thought it was all over they heard a loud humming from over head. A small helicopter type robot with guns on all sides hovered where their last opponent had been minutes before. Barret swore angrily and fired at it but missed by only inches.

Aeris' eyes were wide in shock as Red pushed her out of the way of its attack. Red countered with another fire spell and Barret continued to endlessly fire.

Aeris shook her head and got up to help. The elevator was still moving downwards but they didn't appear to be any closer to the bottom than they were before. The girl cast a bolt at the propellers on the robot, hitting it directly. Barret charged up a ball of fire and aimed it at their attacker. The shot hit and both elevators filled with black smoke.

When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left of the robot. The elevator then dinged and came to and immediate stop at the first floor.

Meanwhile, on the top floor…

Rufus shrugged and briefly looked down at his modified shotgun. "Why do you want to fight me?" His white suit rippled in the slight breeze.

Cloud had determination written all over his face. He held his sword in a defensive stance and narrowed his eyes at the new president of Shinra, Inc. "You seek the Promised Land and Sephiroth."

Rufus smirked, "Hm, exactly." He lowered his gun, and walked closer to Cloud, staring up at the night sky. "Mm? Did you know that Sephiroth is an Ancient?" he said turning to face the ex-SOLDIER.

Cloud shook his head and took a step forward, sword still in hand. "…A lot has happened. Anyway, I can't let either you or Sephiroth have the Promised Land!"

The President chuckled evilly and shook his head almost sadly. "I see. I guess this means we won't become friends."

With that, Rufus raised his gun and fired directly at Cloud.

Cloud lifted his sword and blocked the shots with the massive blade. He lunged forward and tried to impale the taller man.

Rufus hopped out of the way and slammed the butt of his gun into the back of Cloud's head.

Cloud swore he saw stars and struggled to get off the ground before he could be attacked again. Three more shots rang out into the night and Cloud barely dodged them. He shook his head, his vision slowly coming back and cast cure on himself, all the while trying to evade more bullets.

He tried to slice the President in two a few more times but kept missing every time. Rufus was too fast, so he tried a different tactic. Just as Rufus was about to fire again, fire surrounded his body and singed his white coat.

Rufus was caught off guard by the blue arc of energy that then traveled towards him at high speed. Before he could even react it collided with him and he found large gash in his chest.

Rufus ran a hand through his blonde hair. A helicopter hovered next to the two. "Heh… That's all for today…"

Cloud could only watch as Rufus jumped in to the helicopter and flew away.

Cloud growled angrily and sheathed his sword. He wanted to end the fight right there, but they had other things to worry about now. Cloud ran through the President's office and made his way down the red-carpeted stairs.

"Where's Rufus?" Tifa asked who was still waiting by the door to the stairway.

"I couldn't finish 'em. Looks like this's gonna get complicated," he said hurriedly.

On the first floor…

"I'll go on ahead!" Barret yelled to his two companions as they reached the front entrance.

Aeris and Red watched as Barret ran through the glass doors and was almost immediately surrounded by Shinra guards. He ran back inside and continued firing all the while. "*&^%(*… surrounded, huh? If I was alone this wouldn't be a thang but, I gotta reputation to protect."

Aeris shook her head and gave Barret a sad look, although she ended up looking quite nervous at the same time. "You all get out while you can. It's not you they're after… it's me."

Barret turned around and fired a few more shots out the entrance. "Yeah, well that ain't happenin'. You got caught up in this over Marlene. Now, it's my turn to watch out for you!" The dark skinned man took a few more steps towards the entrance and aimed his gunarm straight ahead. "Ok, playtime's over for you jackasses…"

Aeris smiled, genuinely happy to know there were still good people in the world. "…thank you, Mr. Barret!"

Barret ceased fired for a second knitted his eye brows together. "Who you callin' Mr. Barret? That don't sound right!"

"Well then…" Red cleared his throat to get the other two's attention. "If you are through talking, may I suggest that we think of a way to get out of here."

Barret stopped firing and turned to the fiery red beast. "Huh? Oh, oh yeah… You a cold man. Just like someone else 'round here I know." Barret ended shifting his eyes back and forth.

Red sat down and blinked at the man, looking rather annoyed. "Did you say something?"

Barret narrowed his eyes at Red, "Notta thing. So what're we gonna do?"

"Barret!" all three turned to see Tifa racing down the stairs, her eyes filled with excitement.

Barret scanned the stairs behind the martial artist, but didn't see any sign of the spikey headed blonde. "Tifa! Where's Cloud?"

"Everyone, over here!" Tifa yelled to the others, making her way to the other side of the entrance and motioning the others to follow.

Barret caught up and stopped her. "huh? What's up? Where's Cloud?"

"I'll tell you later! Hurry, Hurry!!" Tifa continued running to and the other followed close behind. The entered a room filled with signs, pictures, and monuments. They could hear what sounded like a huge rumbling motor close by, and hoped it wouldn't be more resistance.

Just as they found a small truck like vehicle in the middle of the room, Cloud came speeding over the stairs in a brand new prototype motorcycle.

Tifa got into the drivers side of the truck and Aeris got into the passenger side. She started the truck and drove off as Barret and Red leapt into the truck's bed.

They shattered the Shinra sign in the main entrance and followed Cloud up the stairs to the next floor. Tifa gave Cloud a smile and both vehicles lined up about 15 feet away from a huge glass window.

Cloud took a deep breath and revved the engine. He let off the brake and flew towards the window, crashing through it and landing on the highway. He sped off down the highway, the other's truck fast on his tail.

Two Shinra guards on motorcycles raced on either side of him, firing at the truck. Barret unloaded on the two motorcycles and Cloud sliced at another sending the other man flying off his bike.

The five wound around Midgar on the highway, killing more Shinra troops and destroying bikes. They continued speeding through the highway and were chased by a giant robot with a flamethrower on either side.

Cloud dug his sword into the ground and skidded to a halt when they got to a dead end on the edge of Midgar. The ex-SOLDIER hopped off his bike and pulled his sword out of the ground. The rest of the group jumped out of the truck and all readied their weapons.

The Motorball started the fight, spewing fire all over Tifa, Barret, and Red. Cloud ran over to the other side and shoved his sword into one of the robots six studded tires. The Motorball span around and sliced at Cloud with it's hidden knives.

This gave Tifa an opening to land a few punches, denting it's metal frame severely. The machine continued with its attack on Cloud and Barret fired his gunarm at its frame. Red was busy trying to sink his fangs and claws into another one of it's tires.

Aeris stayed on the side lines and cast spells when she could both to heal the others and damage the robot. The Motorball span around spitting flames at the five, burning them badly. Aeris struggled to cure the others while they fought on, not willing to go down easily.

The tank-like weapon sped into Tifa knocking her unconscious. Cloud looked let his guard down and reached out to Tifa, but realized his mistake when his head was nearly taken off by the enemies rotating blades.

The Motorball was relentless, like most Shinra made weapons. Even with the five of them all attacking it still wouldn't give up. Cloud, in his rage, jumped and brought his sword down on the machine one last time. The blade sliced all the way through, top to bottom, and it finally stopped its rampage.

When they were sure it was destroyed Cloud dropped his sword and ran over to Tifa. He rummaged through his pockets and took out a small red vile. He opened it carefully and poured the concoction into the martial artists mouth.

A few seconds later, Tifa bolted upright in a coughing fit, her eyes wide as if she was expecting the Motorball to attack her that instant. She looked around and saw the machine in a big pile of unmoving metal and relaxed. Her head was pounding, and the only thing she could remember was dodging one of the thing's attacks.

The girl shook her head and sighed. Cloud reached down and offered her a hand, pulling her up to her feet.

"Well, what do we do now?" Barret asked, looking around to find they were on an unfinished bridge on the very edge of Midgar.

Cloud walked to the edge and looked down at the city. He looked the most troubled out of them all. He sighed and looked up at the dark blue sky. "Sephiroth is alive. I …I have to settle the score."

Barret joined him and stood at his side. He raised a brow and frowned slightly. "And that'll save the Planet?"

"…Seems like it."

Barret nodded and looked out at the wastelands surrounding the city. "Awright, I'm going!"

Aeris walked to Cloud's other side. She was nervous, but she knew she had to join the others in their journey. "I'll go too… I have things that I want to find out."

Cloud's face was unreadable, but Tifa knew he must have felt the same way as she did about Sephiroth. "About the Ancients?" he asked the flower girl.

Aeris looked down, not wanting to talk about it. "……Many things."

Tifa looked back at the city and sighed, tossing a piece of hair out of her face. "I guess this's good bye, Midgar."


	17. Kalm

disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy vii in any way.

sorry for the long wait everyone. I've been super sick T.T

* * *

"We told Aeris's mom to go somewhere safe, so Marlene should be safe too," Barret said while jumping off the metal wire and landing on the sandy ground with a loud thump.

After the group of five had decided they needed to get out of Midgar they had climbed a wire down to the outside of the city.

"Yeah, she should be," Cloud said as he peered out into the dark wasteland.

The air was just as parched on the outside of Midgar as it was on the inside. A slight breeze whipped up sand and blew it in every direction. The ground was dry and cracked. There wasn't a single plant in sight. No grass, no life… nothing. No one knew whether the wasteland had always been there, or if it had been created by the reactors that sucked the mako from the planet. Either way, it was a barren and dead.

Aeris scanned the surrounding area. She felt out of place. She had never been outside Midgar. "She said she didn't want to stay in Midgar anymore… Maybe it's for the best," She said, trying to lighten the mood.

"You know what? This is the first time I've ever left Midgar…" Aeris whispered to Cloud, clearly trying to mask the fear that shone in her eyes.

"Really? …You worried?" he asked, raising a brow and crossing his arms loosely.

Aeris looked away and pursed her lips. "A little, …no, maybe a lot. But I have my bodyguard, right?" she ended with a tentative smile.

"...I guess this is the start of our journey...," Tifa said, starring out into the distance.

"You hate traveling?" Cloud asked her quietly.

"...I don't know. But, I don't have anywhere else to go. So I guess it doesn't really matter whether I like to travel or not," she replied with a shrug.

"I'm going back to my hometown. I'll go with you as far as that," Red XIII announced while looking up at the light grey sky.

"Then... Let's go!" Cloud ordered the others as he walked off.

"We need a group leader for our journey. 'Course only me could be the leader," Barret said waving his arms in the air.

Tifa shook her head and held back a small laugh. "You think so...?"

Aeris raised her hand to her chin and swayed back and forth happily. A second later she approached the others with a small smile on her face. "It would have to be Cloud."

Barret looked around at the other's faces. They all seemed to agree with Aeris. The man huffed and shook his head. "^#$^%......awright. Go Northeast to a town called Kalm. If something happens, we'll meet up there," he said pointing off into the distance with his 'good' hand. "'Sides, we can't have 5 people strolling down the fields. It's too dangerous. Split us into 2 parties...," He said, sitting down on the dusty earth.

Cloud nodded and decided on going with Tifa and Barret. He felt bad not taking Aeris with, but from what he had seen, Red seemed to be strong enough to protect her. At least that's what he hoped.

With that, Aeris waved a goodbye and Red, to the best of his ability, copied the action and trotted into the distance with Aeris.

Once Aeris and Red were just dots on the horizon, Barret, Tifa, and Cloud began their journey to Kalm.

It was only a few hours walk, or that's what Barret had convinced them. It took them almost an hour to get out of the wasteland that surrounded Midgar. Once they reached the grassy plains, Kalm was still no where in sight.

The Kalm wolves were out for the hunt, and were continuously attacking them. Cloud worried about Aeris with all the wolves around, but he had to keep reminding himself that Aeris was an adult and could take care of herself.

The noon sun beat down on them as they walked through the planes. Three more hours had passed when they finally spotted a small town in the distance.

The light wind blew Tifa's hair in her face, making it almost impossible for her to see. Her legs ached and her whole body was exhausted from the trek. A relieved smile crossed her chapped lips when they reached the entrance to the small but cozy town. They'd finally be able to get some rest.


	18. 5 Years Ago, On That Day

Hey everyone! I'm back! Things got really stressful for me in the last year, but i promised you all that i would finish this and that's what i intend to do. I really really want to thank AcceberRider for their review on this story. You're the one that inspired me to start working on this again so thank you so much. I'll try to keep updates on an every day or two basis so check back often. Also, in case anyone was wondering, all of the dialogue in this story is directly from the game. I changed little things that characters do here and there to make it seem more realistic but the dialogue is completely true to the game. Even the little mistakes that square made in the translations. I haven't changed them. So read on in the unofficial novelization of Final Fantasy VII! R&R and i'll give you a cookie! ^.^

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of it's characters.

* * *

"This is Kalm." Barret announced as the three neared the center of the small down. The roads were made of gray stone, and everything seemed to be old fashioned. Boxes and crates lined the alleyways and the smell of baked goods floated in the air.

"Everyone's waiting at the inn. Let's go Cloud." Tifa said, approaching a large house, not unlike the others except for a sign on top of the doorway labeled 'Inn'.

"Get over here!" Barret yelled back to Cloud as he and Tifa pulled open the heavy wooden door.

By the time Cloud decided to finally enter the Inn, everyone else was already there waiting.

"Cloud, you're late!" Aeris said as he trudged his worn, muddy boots up the stairs.

"Yo man, you're late!" Barret added.

Cloud folded his arms and sighed while shaking his head. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Guess everyone's here now." Aeris said, looking around at the others who were all staring intently at Cloud.

Barret flung himself onto a small chair and nearly broke it in the process. "So let's hear your story...... You know, the one about Sephiroth and the crisis facing the planet. Let's hear it all."

Red was curled up near the window, gazing at Cloud with one inquisitive eye. Tifa propped herself up on on of the few beds, knowing that this was going to be a long story.

Cloud took a deep breath and stared absently at the ceiling. His brows knitted together in deep thought. "......I used to want to be like Sephiroth, so I joined SOLDIER. After working with Sephiroth on several missions, we became friends."

Barret rose a sweat covered brow and rocked back in forth in chair. "You call that a friend?"

Cloud shrugged and closed his mako enhanced eyes. "Yeah, well..... He's older than me, and he hardly ever talked about himself."

Tifa bit her lip nervously, seeing the pain that this was giving Cloud.

"So I guess you'd call him a war buddy...... We trusted each other. Until one day......"

"...one day?" Aeris asked, cocking her head to the side.

Cloud turned his back to the group and stared at the wall. That day replayed in his mind as if it had just happened the day before. Like a bad nightmare that you just can't seem to forget. "After the war it was SOLDIER's duty to put down any resistance against the Shinra...... that was 5 years ago. I was 16......"

_flashback_

Cloud looked out through the back of the large Shinra van. There were two other guards that had accompanied Sephiroth and Cloud. The vehicle shook and rumbled as it made it's way towards it's destination. The deafening sound of rain pattered on the truck making it almost impossible to see or hear anything.

"It sure is raining hard." Cloud commented. "Hey, how are you doing?" he asked one of the guards who was sitting on the opposite side.

"I'm all right." the man replied, his blue and gray helmet masking his face.

"I wouldn't know..." Cloud said, nodding. "I've never had motion sickness." Cloud approached the other guard and got into his signature SOLDIER pose. "Everything okay?" he said with a smile, excitement shone in his bright blue mako eyes.

"Hey." a deep voice said quietly that was directed at the young blonde.

Cloud turned to the silver haired general and rose a brow.

"Settle down."

"They gave me some new Materia." Cloud said happily, while doing some squats. He clearly was unable to stay completely still. "I can't wait to use it."

Sephiroth closed his green cat like eyes at shook his head slightly. "...just like a kid."

"You going to brief us about this mission?" Cloud asked impatiently.

Sephiroth sat on a wooden crate on the side of the truck. His long silver hair hung down his back like a waterfall and his long bangs neatly framed each side of his face. The general crossed his arms and stared at the window through the thick blanket of grey rain. "...this isn't a typical mission."

"Good!" Cloud said while doing an arm pump.

Sephiroth cocked his head and rose a brow, a slight look of annoyance on his sharp features. "Why do you say that?"

"I joined SOLDIER so I could be like you. But by the time I made First Class, the war was already over. My big hopes of becoming a hero like you ended with the war. That's why I always sign up whenever there's a big mission. Kind of a way to prove myself. Say, how do you feel, MISTER Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth knitted his brows, his thin lips turned into a frown. "...I thought you wanted a briefing?"

Cloud scratched the back of his head and smiled nervously.

"Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. There have been reports of it malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. First, we will dispose of those creatures. Then, we'll locate the problem and neutralize it." he said, mostly in monotone.

Cloud looked down at the ground in deep thought. "Brutal creatures... Where?"

Sephiroth snapped his gaze to Cloud. "The Mako Reactor at Nibelheim."

"Nibelheim... That's where I'm from."

Sephiroth nodded, a slight smirk glued onto his face. "Hmm...hometown..."

Cloud and the two guards suddenly got up and looked around when they felt something slam into the van.

"Sir...s, something strange just crashed into our truck!" The driver yelled back to them.

"That would be our Monster..." Sephiroth said calmly rising from his position and unsheathing his famous sword, the masamune.

When the two jumped out of the vehicle a giant dragon swooped down and hit Cloud knocking him to the side. The blonde reached for his sword but when he looked back he couldn't help but stare in complete shock. Sephiroth stood where the dragon had been seconds before, his black trench coat billowing in the wind. His sword dripping with blood and the dragon lay unmoving not far away.

_end flashback_

"Sephiroth's strength is unreal. He is far stronger in reality than any story you might have heard about him."

"So... Where do you come in?" Aeris asked, secretly hoping that Cloud would have a bigger role.

Cloud scatched his head. "Me? I was mesmerized by the way Sephiroth fought."

Tifa shifted her weight, clearly uncomfortable by the story.

"......and then we reached Nibelheim," Cloud continued as the sun began to set outside the window.

_flashback_

"How does it feel?" Sephiroth asked, standing in the entrance to the small country town. A huge grey mountain range casted the village in shadow. Only a small about of sunshine shown through it's peaks.

"It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right?" he asked. "So how does it feel? I wouldn't know because i don't have a hometown..."

"Ummm...how 'bout your parents?" Cloud asked joining the general at his side.

"My mother is Jenova. She died right after she gave birth to me. My father..." Sephiroth began to laugh quietly, although Cloud detected some sadness in that laugh. "What does it matter...?" The general shook his head and stared off into the distance. "All right, let's go."

With that, the four entered the sleepy little town.

_end flashback_

"Yo wait a minute!" Barret interrupted rudely. "Isn't that, um...? The name of Sephiroth's mother... I remember Jenova. That's that damn headless spook livin' in the Shinra building."

"That's right." Cloud agreed. He was somewhat annoyed with Barret but he decided that he would let it pass.

Tifa narrowed her eyes at Barret and crossed her legs. "Barret, would you please let us hear what Cloud has to say? You can ask questions later."

"Tifa, I was only......"

"Okay Cloud, continue."

Aeris couldn't help but smile at Barret's expression. "It's a reunion of childhood pals!"

"......I was really surprised with Tifa." Cloud continued his story as the others listened intently. "...The town was quiet. Everyone must be staying in their houses, afraid to come out because of the monsters. No, maybe they're afraid of us..."

_flashback_

"We leave for the reactor at dawn. Make sure you get to sleep early." Sephiroth quietly ordered Cloud. He took a few strides towards the Inn they were going to stay at, when he stopped and turned to the blonde. "All we need is one lookout, so you others, get some rest. Oh, that's right... You may visit your family and friends."

Cloud answered with a slight nod and watched as Sephiroth disappeared into the Inn.

An older man ran out of his house towards Cloud. "I heard Sephiroth was coming and got my camera ready. I want a shot of Sephiroth and a monster."

"Better get back in the house, it's dangerous." Cloud told the man, trying to sound as professional as possible.

"All right..." the man replied, looking rather disappointed. _'So big-headed...' _"Hey?" _'This guy's a real...' _"You... Are you Cloud? Really? So that's how it is, huh?"

Cloud explored the small town. He ran into a few townspeople that he had known, but what he really wanted was to see his childhood friend.

**"Cloud...?" Tifa asked, not wanting to interrupt, but she was curious. "Did you go into my house?"**

**"Yeah... I thought you might be home."**

Cloud cautiously opened the wooden door to the cozy little house. He stamped his feet on the welcome mat and ran a hand through his spikey blonde mess of hair. He wanted to look as good as he possibly could.

**"Cloud...? Did you go into my room?" Tifa asked suddenly.**

**"Yeah..."**

Cloud searched through the house but found no signs of Tifa. He padded up the stairs as quietly as he could and tried to remember which of the two rooms belonged to Tifa. Once he had decided on one, he placed his gloved hand on the doors handle and turned it slowly, opening the door with a creak.

**"Did you play my piano?"**

**"Yeah, I jammed on it." Cloud replied with a small smile crossing his lips.**

Cloud placed his hands on the ivory keys and played a short tune that he had remembered learning, but he couldn't remember where. "I've heard this melody somewhere before. Managed to play well..." he said to himself.

Cloud quietly tread to the other side of the room to inspect an open drawer in the dark stained wood dresser. _'Orthopedic underwear...?'_

**"Cloud!"**

**"It's true..." Cloud replied a smirk crossing his features.**

**"...Cloud. We're talking about something really important here."**

Cloud headed back down the stairs and out of Tifa's house. He trudged over to the house next door and looked it up and down. He was nervous and knew his mom would be relentless in her questioning. He adjusted his shoulder guards, took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

**"This is......my house. It has nothing to do with that incident five years ago."**

**"Yo wait, I wanna hear." Barret interrupted yet again.**

**"Me too! It's been a long time, right?" Aeris chimed in with a smile.**

**"Tell us more!" Barret demanded in his loud booming voice. "You saw your family, right?"**

**"All right..." Cloud finally agreed with a heavy sigh. "I don't know if you could call it a 'family'...... My father... died when I was still very young. That's why my mom...... was living alone in this house. Yeah, I saw my mom. My mom... she was a vibrant woman. Hadn't changed at all. But a few days later, she died... But when I saw her, she looked fine."**

Cloud cautiously entered the house. The wooden floors were shiny as if they had just been polished. Pictures of his family hung on the walls and a small kitchen with stone floors took up a portion of the main room. It was just as he had remembered it as a kid.

A blonde haired woman in an orange dress worked busily preparing food in the kitchen. Cloud ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat nervously. "Uh...?"

"Ye----s?" She replied turning around in the process. Her eyes widened and she rushed across the room to get a closer look at her guest. "Cloud!" she exclaimed placing a hand over her mouth. "Welcome home, Cloud!" she said with a smile and pulled her son into a warm embrace.

"Hi, mom." Cloud replied, an awkward smile plastered to his face.

_flash_

"Come, come... Let me take a look at you!" the woman said, crossing her arms and walking around her son, examining him carefully. "You look so handsome," she commented quietly, looking him up and down with a proud smile on her delicate features. "So is this a SOLDIER uniform?" she asked, raising a brow.

Cloud sat down on the stairs, looking up at the woman with a hint of worry in his eyes. "......Mom, I..."

_flash_

"My, how you've grown." Cloud's mother stared at her son who was laying comfortably on his old bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. "I'll bet the girls never leave you alone." She smiled, drying her hand on her apron and sitting at the foot of the bed.

"...Not really," he replied with a sigh. His mind was on other things.

The blond woman looked down at her hands, picking at her nails absently. "...I'm worried about you. There are a lot of temptations in the city... I'd feel a lot better if you just settled down and had a nice girlfriend."

Cloud shrugged slightly. "...I'm all right."

She looked up at the wooden ceiling and smiled slightly, pulling a few strands of hair behind her ear. "You should have... an older girlfriend, one that'll take care of you. I think that would be the perfect type for you." She nodded once as if to assure herself that it was a good idea.

The SOLDIER closed his mako blue eyes and sighed again. "......I'm not interested."

_flash_

"Are you eating right?" the vibrant woman asked, stirring a steaming pot of soup at the stove.

Cloud nodded, standing in the hallway and watching his mother with interest. He really did miss her home cooked meals every night and the smell that drifted through the house made his mouth absolutely water. "I'm all right. The Company takes care of me."

"Is that so?" she replied, pursing her lips and turning to face the spikey headed blond. "You can't cook, right? I was worried sick about how you were doing...

_flash_

"Cloud...?"

_flash_

"You know, Cloud......"

_flash_

"...... . isn't that right, Cloud?"

_flash_

"I will always be your mother..."

**The words replayed in his mind over and over like a broken record. "......Let's stop this......," Cloud said quietly before resuming his story at a different point.**

Cloud walked across the dusty streets of Nibelheim, the wind kicking up and blowing his hair gently. His eyes were set on the ground in front of him. The town hadn't changed much in the few years that he had been gone. He hardly ever had to look up to know where he was going.

He had missed his mom, sure, but he had found something strange about the visit. Something he couldn't quite place about the cheery woman. He was thinking so hard that he hardly realized he was already half way up the stairs to the second floor of the inn. His leather boots thudded up the stairs slowly. He was tired and definitely needed to get some shut eye before the mission the next day.

He fought back a yawn and looked up when he reached the top of the stairs. The general was standing still in front of the small window that looked over the town and the mountains that loomed over it. Cloud figured if he hadn't known the silver haired warrior he would've almost thought he was a statue.

"What are you looking at?" Cloud asked casually, stopping a few feet away from the taller man and staring out the window at his childhood.

"...This scenery...... I feel like I know this place." he replied quietly in his deep voice, glancing over at the blond.

Cloud figured that's all he was going to get out of the quiet man and shrugged. He was tired anyway and not up for a long conversation. He took one last look out the glass panels and turned around on his heel, following the masked guard into the small room.

"We're short one bed..." The guard noticed when they both shuffled in.

"...We have an early start tomorrow. You should get some sleep soon." Sephiroth suggested, his looming figure standing in the doorway.

Cloud nodded, sitting on one of the three beds and pulling off his boots. "Yeah, let's get some sleep." he was honestly half surprised the general was even speaking.

"I've hired a guide to the Mako reactor." The silver haired man looked over at the wall, leaning against the door frame. "I've heard she's young, I hope we can rely on her..."

Cloud nodded and laid back in the plushy comforter and closed his eyes, dozing off to sleep.


	19. The Jenova Project

Hey everyone, sorry a day late on posting this! T.T promise i'll get the next chapter posted by tomorrow night. For some reason the traffic page doesn't seem to be working right and isn't showing any hits or visitors at all yet i got 2 more favorites so i must have had some. Is anyone else having this problem? o.O

I do have a question so anyone who's actually reading this please give me some feedback. I'm keeping very true to the story as most of you should know but i feel like i'm missing a little depth in the characters sometimes. Should i try to put some of their thoughts in this story? If i do, of course i will try to keep it to the story and not make things up but i feel like it might add a little more to the characters. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Everyone! And here is Chapter 19 of the unofficial novelization of Final Fantasy VII! R&R! ^.^

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII in any way.

* * *

Cloud awoke with a loud yawn, his eyes still closed tightly. The room was quiet and he figured everyone was still asleep. He sat up slowly, stretching his arms out in front of him and yawned again. His joints were stiff from the fight the previous day but he at least felt well rested. He rubbed his eyes and opened them slowly, his vision beginning to clear.

A small amount of light shone through the frosty windows and created little squares all over the wooden floor. Cloud looked around and panicked. The beds next to him were unoccupied and no one was in the room. Had they left without him?

He jumped up quickly and slid his feet into his boots, tying them sloppily and hopping out the door at the same time. The inn keeper looked up started, nearly spilling his coffee as the blond boy stomped down the stairs and made a mad dash out the heavy wooden door.

He kicked up some dust on the dirt roads as he ran towards the north end of town. The sun was just starting to peak over the jagged Nibel mountains and villagers were rising, ready for the new day. Cloud ran as fast as he could. This was his first big mission and he didn't want to miss it all together.

His breath turned to mist in the chilly morning air as he neared the path leading up to the old Shinra mansion. He spotted a group of people gathered together at the mountain trail's entrance. At least they had waited for him. He slowed his run to a quick jog and sighed in relief as he neared the group.

A short man with a camera grabbed his shoulder and looked up at him questioningly. "Think they'd let me take a picture?" Cloud shrugged and walked over to the rest of the group, approaching the general. He hoped that the 1st class SOLDIER wouldn't be too upset with his lateness.

"Once the guide gets here, we're heading out," Sephiroth said in monotone, his arms crosses and staring at a jagged mountain face.

A man stepped out from behind them, his face in desperate need of a shave and wearing some old beat up overalls. He looked much older than he probably was, most likely due to years of hard work in the town. "Listen to me, Sephiroth. In case something happens..."

"...Trust me." Sephiroth turned, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I'll be all right, Dad!" A young girl in a cowboy hat and hiking clothes ran over with a bright smile. "I have two men from SOLDIER with me," she reassured her father, flinging some rope over her shoulder. "I'm Tifa. Nice to meet you!" she greeted the men happily.

"Tifa! You're the guide?" Cloud took a step forward, his eyes wide in surprise.

Tifa nodded and smiled. "That's right. I just happen to be the number one guide in this town," she nodded again and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face.

Cloud's eyes filled with worry. He balled his fists and took another step forward. "It's too dangerous! I can't involve you in something like this!" Tifa had been one of his only friends and they had been very close only a few years back.

"Then there's no problem if you protect her." Sephiroth turned on his heel and started to make his way down the dirt trail. "...Let's go."

"Ummm..." The man with the camera took a few steps forward. "Mr. Sephiroth! Please let me take one picture for a memento!"

Sephiroth stopped in his tracks and glared down at the ground.

"Tifa, can you ask him for me too...?" the man stared at her with pleading eyes, gripping his camera in both his hands tightly.

Tifa put her hand on her hip and looked to Cloud, staring at him in question. Cloud shrugged with a boyish grin and ran over to the front of the Shinra Mansion gate, taking his place for the picture. Tifa soon followed and the eager man positioned himself a few feet away, raising his camera up. Sephiroth glanced over. They had a mission and he wasn't particularly in the mood for such trivial things.

He sighed quietly to himself and stood next to Tifa, staring out at the mountains. He never did like taking pictures.

"Cheeeeese!"The man smiled and announced happily when Sephiroth joined the group. A click was heard as the man pressed the button followed by a blinding flash. "Great, thank you!" the man said gratefully as Sephiroth walked back to the trail, his face expressionless. "I'll give each of you a copy once I get it developed!" he smiled and ran towards the town, eager to get the picture developed as soon as possible.

** "A Mako Reactor was built in Mt. Nibel. The cold air of the mountains of Nibel. It was no different..."**

The five travelers climbed through the mountains at a relatively fast place. The quickly realized that without Tifa as the guide the trek would have taken them twice as long, if not three times as long. The girl knew all the paths well and all of the best ways to make their way up the rock face that it wasn't nearly as difficult as they all thought it was. Although Sephiroth, who was at the front of the group, hadn't seemed to be having any trouble anyway.

Cloud smiled in determination as he jumped up on top of a ledge, finally reaching the next trail. He had joined SOLDIER because he admired Sephiroth and wanted to be 1st class just like him. Now that he was a 1st class SOLDIER it was no different. He admired his power and grace even more.

"It gets harder from here! Follow me!" Tifa ran ahead of the group and started up the worn bridge in front of them. Cloud took a deep breath of cold mountain air and shuddered. The bridge didn't look very stable, but he trusted Tifa. He placed his hands carefully on the rope supports on either side of him and took a few steps forward on the wooden planks. _'Not very stable...'_ He thought, as the bridge swayed in the wind.

The five were almost at the top when a loud creaking was heard. "Uh... the bridge!" Tifa yelled down to the rest, standing next to Cloud. Sephiroth looked down, being slightly ahead of the two and held on to one of the wooden planks tightly. He had already spotted the tear in the rope further down. The guard at the rear of the group kept climbing, not hearing the others.

_SNAP!_

The rope snapped sending the bridge falling towards the opposite mountain face. Tifa began to slip and screamed out to Cloud. The blond looked down in panic. He grabbed onto the other rope and reached down, grabbing Tifa's hand just in time. They sighed in relief until the bridge started to move again. Cloud widened his eyes as he watched another rope begin to split.

He moved to jump up and grab the next wooden plank but it was too late. The bridge snapped in half and the five began to fall.

_ Some time later..._

Cloud rubbed his forehead and sat up slowly. He felt like he'd been hit with a ton of bricks and he couldn't quite remember what had happened before. He shook his head and looked over when her heard a noise. It was Tifa who also seemed to be regaining consciousness. Cloud jumped up and looked around for any signs of the others. He had just remembered what happened on the bridge.

He sighed in relief as he saw Sephiroth and one of the guards climb over a large rock towards them. He should of figured that Sephiroth would be ok, especially if he was. Cloud turned his neck, cracking it loudly. Man he was stiff.

"Everyone seems to be all right. Can we get back to where we were?" Sephiroth asked Tifa. He didn't even look like he had a scratch on him.

Tifa nodded and looked at the other guard nervously, who had some rips in his uniform and appeared to be limping. "These caves are intertwined, just like an ant farm..." she pointed up at a trail leading to a cave. "Oh, and Sephiroth... There seems to be one person missing..." She bit her lip nervously. She was referring to one of the guards that had been accompanying them.

Sephiroth knitted his brows together and stared up at the cave entrance. "It may sound cold, but we've got no time to search for him. We can't go back now, so we must go on. We'll travel together from here."

Tifa and the others nodded. She didn't like the idea of leaving that man behind but Sephiroth was right. They had to get to the Mako reactor to carry out whatever mission they had planned.

All four trudged up the trail. Cloud had briefly wondered if all the trails were man made or if they had were natural creations. It wasn't long before they all entered the cold cave.

Spikes stood up from the floor and the only sound besides their breathing was water dripping from the ceiling and the occasional sound of a monster's roar.

"What's this?" Cloud asked, looking around at the walls that were glowing a dull green.

"A mysteriously colored cave..."Tifa said, scratching her head and looking around nervously.

Sephiroth nodded and crossed his arms. "It must be the Mako energy. This mountain is especially abundant in it. That's why the Mako Reactor was built here," he explained.

Cloud nodded. He thought that made sense. He had taken some of the ropes for Tifa considering she was looking a little tired. She didn't have the training that SOLDIER's did and had a hard time keeping up some times.

The cave path was windy and confusing but luckily it was short. They trudged towards the cave's exit which was shining extremely brightly compared to the rest of the cave walls. They stepped inside and stared around in awe. There was a giant tree growing right inside the cave. It's roots were tangled and overgrown but beautiful none-the-less. They formed in a circle around a stone piller that was surrounded by Mako and holding up a large green glowing rock.

"...And what's this?" Cloud asked, his eyes wide. The whole cavern was beautiful, unlike anything he had ever seen.

Sephiroth stared blankly at the formation. "A Mako fountain. It's a miracle of nature."

"It's so beautiful..." Tifa said quietly and walked forward to get a better look. She looked down at the pool of Mako, her expression becoming disturbed. "If the Mako Reactor continues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too..."

Sephiroth approached the fountain, the Mako's light shining off his green cat-like eyes. "Materia. When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. It's very rare to be able to see materia in its natural state."

Cloud joined the two, staring at the glowing rock. "By the way... Why is it that when you use materia you can also use magic too?"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at the shorter man. "You were in SOLDIER and didn't even know that?" The general went back to staring at the materia. "...the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia." He brushed his bangs out of his face before continuing. "Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. The knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic...or so they say."

"Magic...a mysterious power..." Cloud said quietly, crossing his arms.

Sephiroth suddenly threw his head back and burst into a fit of laughter, his deep voice echoing in the spacious cavern. "Ha, ha, ha!"

Cloud tilted his head slightly and looked over at the black clad warrior. "Did I say somethin' funny?"

Sephiroth chuckled and closed his eyes, shaking his head slowly. "A man once told me never to use an unscientific term such as mysterious power! It shouldn't even be called 'magic'!" Sephiroth looked up, his green eyes piercing into Cloud's blue ones. "I still remember how angry he was."

"Who was that?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth raised a hand slightly. "Hojo of Shinra, Inc. … An inexperienced man assigned to take over the work of a great scientist. He was a walking mass of complexes," he finished, letting his hand fall to his side, resting on the hilt of the masamune.

"A Mako fountain... So this is where the knowledge of the Ancients is." Tifa looked up at the two man as she crouched next to the fountain, gazing down at the Mako pool. She got up slowly after another minute. They had to keep going to make it to the Mako Reactor.

Once they made their way out of the cave, the path was short. It had grown considerably colder as they ascended the mountain but the reactor was in sight.

"We finally made it. We sure took the long way though." Tifa said, resting her hand on her knees and trying to catch her breath.

"Tifa, you wait here." Cloud said, placing his gloved hand on her shoulder lightly.

The young girl stomped her foot down and pouted. "I'm going inside too! I wanna see!"

Sephiroth began to make his way up the metal stairs, his silver hair blowing slightly as he walked. "Only authorized people are allowed in. This place is full of Shinra's industrial secrets."

"But!" Tifa took a step forward but Cloud stopped her.

Sephiroth turned around and looked down at the guard. "Take care of the lady."

Cloud gave Tifa one last smile before climbing up the stairs after Sephiroth. Tifa ran a few steps forward towards the stairs but was stopped by the guard. Tifa glared at him and pouted but his only response was him shaking his head slowly.

The young girl stomped her foot down again, a small cloud of grey dust raising up and then dissapating. "Mm, man!" Tifa huffed and stomped a few steps away, her hands on her hips. "Better take real good care of me then!"

Cloud and Sephiroth carefully made their way down to the inside of the Reactor. For some reason there hadn't been any proper stairs or elevators made so the two were forced to balance along a few pipes and climb down a large metal chain to get down to the bridge. Cloud looked over the side of the bridge as the walked on. A huge pool of bubbling Mako was 50 feet or so below them. If they fell there would be no coming back.

The humming of the machines grew louder as they neared the center of the Reactor. Gears span quickly on the walls and the room was illuminated with glowing red lights. Cloud looked around confused. This wasn't like any reactor he had seen before. Rows of grey pods with small circular windows at the top were situated around the chamber. Sephiroth was well ahead of him, his strides being much longer, as he was already at the top of the stairs.

Cloud rushed up the stairs past the strange pods as fast as he could, stopping next to the silver haired man. "This is... Jenova, right? The lock won't open..." he said, placing his hand against the metal door in front of them. There appeared to be no handles or locks on it and a sign hung above, labeled: Jenova.

Sephiroth examined the door carefully and turned around, heading back down the stairs. Cloud knitted his brows together in confusion but shook it off, following the general. Sephiroth turned at on e of the many rows and stopped in front of one of the pods. "This is the reason for the malfunction. This part is broken. Cloud, close the valve," he ordered, stepping out of the way for the blond.

Cloud bent down and pulled on the valve, tightening it until it closed. He looked up expecting to see Sephiroth looming over him, but was somewhat surprised when he wasn't there. He looked over at the next row of pods and found the stoic man to be examining one of the pods.

"Why did it break...?" he whispered looking up at the glowing blue window. He gripped the edges of the window and pulled himself up to look at what the metal pod was hiding. He smirked and dropped back down with a loud thump on the metal walkway. "...now I see, Hojo." Sephiroth raised his gloved hand to his forehead and smirked, closing his eyes. "But, even doing this, will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast."

Sephiroth crossed his arms and looked up at Cloud. "This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy... that is, when it's working correctly. Now... what does Mako energy become when it's further condensed?"

Cloud furrowed his brow in thought and looked up, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. "Uh, umm...Oh yeah! It becomes a Materia." Cloud smiled, proud of his answer.

Sephiroth nodded. "Right, normally. But Hojo put something else in there. ...Take a look," he said, taking a few steps back to give Cloud room to see. "Look through the window."

Cloud nodded and looked up at the window. He was quite a bit shorter than the other man so it was harder to see. He jumped up as high as he could and peered inside the frosty window. His eyes widened and he dropped to the floor when he saw the monstrosity that stared back at him. "Wh... what is this!" he stammered. It had almost looked human but was deformed beyond recognition. It's skin glowed blue and there were long fleshy spikes protruding from where it's hair should have been.

Sephiroth pushed his bangs out of his face and stared down at Cloud who was still on the floor, staring back at him in horror. "Normal member of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still human. But, what are they? They've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you," he explained.

Cloud carefully got up, brushing of his deep blue pants. "...is this some kind of monster?" Cloud asked, watching the glass window as if the mutant would break through it at any second.

"Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monster's really are."

"Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different?" Cloud asked, glancing over at the taller man.

Sephiroth rose his hand to his head and squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body shaking slightly.

"H...hey, Sephiroth!" Cloud reached out his hand but pulled it back quickly.

"N...no... Was I?" Sephiroth muttered to himself and unsheathed his masamune, slashing at the metal pods.

Cloud stared wide eyed and jumped down from the metal platform, watching the general in both fear and confusion.

"...Was I created this way too?"Sephiroth ran across the walkway and slashed at more pods, the clangs echoing in the chamber. "Am I the same as all these monsters..."

"...Sephiroth," Cloud stared up at Sephiroth worriedly. He knew he couldn't do anything to help the other man.

"You saw it! All of them... were humans..." Sephiroth's breath was ragged and his sword was lodged in on of the pods.

"Human! No way!" Cloud said, the image of the mutant sleeping in the container still clear in his mind.

Sephiroth pulled his sword out of the pod and walked over, stopping at the top of the stairs to look down at an extremely confused Cloud. "...I've always felt since I was small... That I was different from the others. Special, in some way." He looked down, shaking his head sadly. "But... not like this..."

Just then, they both snapped their heads up at one of the pods nearest to the top. A horrific scream was heard and steam shot out of the edges of the pod as it trembled and shook. The container snapped open and one of the monsters fell out. Only half of it's body had mutated. The other half still barely human.

_**Am I …...human?**_** I didn't quite understand what Sephiroth was saying at that time. I was even more surprised by that fact that Shinra was producing monsters.**

_End Flashback_

"Damn, Shinra! The more I hear, the more I hate 'em!" Barret yelled, getting up from his seat and waving his arms around angrily.

Red XIII glared at the large man with his one eye and tapped his tail on the floor.

"...who would have ever thought the Mako Reactor held a secret like that," Tifa commented, propping herself up on one elbow on the bed.

"That would seem to explain the increase in the number of monsters recently," Red suggested, looking around at the group and trying to ignore Barret. "I think we should listen carefully to Cloud. Don't you think so Barret?"

Barret glared at the fiery cat-like creature. _'Why you talkin' to me!'_ he thought. "Hmph! Pokin' his damn nose in where it don't belong. Cloud! Why don't you finish that story?" he turned to Cloud and sat back down in the chair, shifting around to get comfortable.

_'Phew...'_ Red closed his eye and yawned.

Aeris looked over at Tifa and smiled. The story was hard to keep up with and she was trying to understand everything. "Tifa... You were waiting outside then?"

The martial artist nodded, chewing on a piece of hair. "...Yes."

"We returned to Nibelheim. Sephiroth confined himself at the inn. He didn't even try to talk to me," Cloud continued with the story, staring down at the wooden floor.

"Then all of a sudden he just disappeared, right?" Tifa asked, trying to remember everything that had happened.

"We found him inside the biggest building in Nibelheim."

"The villagers used to call it Shinra mansion," Tifa told the others.

Cloud crossed his arms and nodded. "Long ago, people from Shinra used to live in that mansion..."

_flashback_

Cloud and the guard raced through Nibelheim to the old Shinra mansion. Villagers crowded around the open iron gate, all wondering what was going on and whispering to each other worriedly. Cloud turned to everyone and gave them all a reassuring nod before walking slowly to the front door of the mansion.

The young SOLDIER took a deep breath and placed his hand on the rusty handle of the door, pulling it open. A musty smell hit him as he walked in and a dim light shone through the windows making dust particles visible in the air. He made his way up the creaky wooden stairs as slowly as he could. The whole place was so old he was almost afraid one of the stairs might break underneath his weight. Although the paint was peeling off the walls and most of the mansion seemed in rather bad shape, he could see that it was probably quite magnificent long ago when Shinra employees stayed in it.

"There's no sign of Sephiroth, but I know I saw him go into this room..." another guard who had traveled to Nibelheim told Cloud as he walked down the hallways towards the library. Cloud pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at the bookshelf at the far end of the room. There was something strange about it. He padded quietly across the dirty rug, that he could only assume was supposed to be red, and placed his hand on one of the books on the shelf. He and the guard jumped back in surprise when a sections of the shelf began to move slid back, revealing a set of spiraling stairs that led downwards.

Cloud looked back at the guard and nodded, starting his descent down the wooden stairs. He looked over the railing. It would be a long fall if one the boards happened to break. He shook his head and looked in forward with determination.

He was somewhat surprised when he found that at the bottom of the stairs, there wasn't another room. Instead it was a large cave with barrels and crates lining it edges. He could see a small amount of light at the other end so he kept going, his footsteps echoing.

The blond stopped when he reached a door. He could hear a voice on the otherside. He narrowed his eyes and pushed open the door, seeing the silver haired general pacing back in forth, reading aloud from a book in his hand.

"...an organism that was apparently dead, was found in a 2000 year old geological stratum," he mumbled.

Cloud stood in the doorway listen and looking around in awe at the machines and testing equipment that made the room look like some kind of lab. Or at least that's what he would have thought were it not for numerous shelves filled with books.

"Professor Gast named that organism, Jenova..." Sephiroth continued.

Cloud stared at the general. He thought it was strange that he didn't have his sword but shook it off when he saw the masamune resting on top of a desk. He wondered if Sephiroth had even realized he was there.

"X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova confirmed to be an Ancient... X Year, X Month, X Day. Jenova Project approved. The use of Mako Reactor 1 approved for use..."

Cloud watched as Sephiroth trudged down the hallway. He looked exhausted. He closed his eyes let his arm fall to his side, the dusty book still in his hand. "My mother's name is Jenova... Jenova Project... Is this just a coincidence?" He stared up at the ceiling as if he was looking for some kind of answer. "Professor Gast... Why didn't you tell me anything? ...Why did you die?" he said sadly, hanging his head.

Cloud gulped. He felt sorry for the man, whatever he was going through. He walked up quietly behind Sephiroth, trying to make his presence known.

"Let me be alone," he said quietly, before Cloud even had a chance to speak.

**Sephiroth didn't come out of the Shinra Mansion... He continued to read as if he were possessed by something, and not once, did the light in the basement go out...**


	20. The Flames of Nibelheim

Hello everyone! Long time no... chapter. . Sorry about the long wait. Things have gotten hectic with a job and college so i haven't had a whole lot of time to write. Don't worry though, i haven't lost interest. This WILL continue. There may be some errors in this chapter because i didn't look at it too much after i wrote it, so sorry if there is. Expect the next chapter by this weekend at least. Oh and to readers who do not know, although i'm sure i said it in other notes at the top, all of the dialogue is directly from the game. So any errors in the dialogue is because i refuse to change it from the game. Trying to keep it as true as possible to the story although i add some little character actions and expressions here and there to add more realism. Also, still trying to decide whether i should put more internal thoughts and things like that. Let me know your opinion. R&R!

PS: I've also been working on my own original story that i may post so keep a look out for it! Enjoy Chapter 20 of the Unofficial Novelization of Final Fantasy VII!

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII

* * *

Cloud lay on a lumpy mattress, his eyes open and staring at the wooden ceiling above him. The outside light barely penetrated the dusty windows of the long abandoned bedroom in the Shinra mansion. The only sound the blonde could hear was his own breathing against the dead silence that surrounded him. He couldn't seem to find sleep as he was too worried about the general. He took a deep breath and scooted off the bed, dust rising up into the air from the sheets and covering his dark blue pants. He had no clue how long he had been laying there but he felt like he should go check on the silver haired warrior again.

The first class SOLDIER made his way down the hallway quietly and glanced out the window. Some of the townsfolk were still crowded around the front gate, hoping for some kind of news as to what was going on inside. The truth was that Cloud wasn't even sure if he knew the answer.

Cloud narrowed his mako blue eyes and pursed his lips nervously. The whole situation felt wrong.

"Sephiroth seems different," the guard sitting in the hallway looked up and whispered to Cloud as he neared the room with the secret basement entrance. Cloud nodded. He had known that all along but wished that somehow when he approached the silver headed man again that everything would be back to normal.

He stopped in front of the spiraling wooden ramp and stared down into the pits' dark depths. He exhaled slowly and made his first steps down the ramp. His mind was set on one thing and that was confronting Sephiroth.

The steps creaked under his weight as he neared the bottom. He was still a little nervous with old wooden boards after the incident on the bridge.

"Who is it!" Sephiroth's voice boomed in the small library as Cloud approached.

Cloud stopped in front of the desk that Sephiroth sat at, a smug look on his face. Books were strewn everywhere and half of the shelves were now empty.

"Hmph... traitor," Sephiroth sneered at the teenager.

"Traitor?"

The Shinra general stood up and shook his head, turning his back to the shorter man. "You ignorant traitor. I'll tell you. This Planet originally belonged to the Cetra. Cetra was a itinerant race. They would migrate in, settle the Planet, then move on... At the end of their harsh, hard journey, they would find the Promised Land and supreme happiness." Sephiroth turned sharply and glared daggers at Cloud, who looked more than confused. "But, those that disliked the journey appeared. Those who stopped their migrations built shelters and elected to lead an easier life. They took that which the Cetra and the planet had made without giving one whit in return! Those are your ancestors."

Sephiroth pointed an accusing finger at Cloud, causing the younger man to look away. "Sephiroth..." he whispered worriedly, unsure of where this was going.

"Long ago, disaster struck this planet," Sephiroth continued in a harsh yet quiet voice, taking a few steps forward. "Your ancestors escaped... They survived because they hid. The Planet was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. After that, your ancestors continued to increase. Now all that's left of the Cetra is in these reports." Sephiroth lifted up a book and slammed it back down on the desk.

Cloud glanced up at Sephiroth, the dim light reflecting off his eyes. "What does that have to do with you?"

"Don't you get it?" the taller man sneered and came to stand before Cloud, looming down at him. "An Ancient named Jenova was found in a geological stratum of 2000 years ago. The Jenova Project. The Jenova Project wanted to produce people with the powers of the Ancients... no, the Cetra," he corrected himself. "...I am the one that was produced."

Cloud took a step back in alarm. "Pr...produced!"

"Yes," Sephiroth answered calmly. "Professor Gast, leader of the Jenova Project and genius scientist, produced me."

Cloud had so many questions. None of this made any sense to him. "How... how did he...?"

Sephiroth's expression became blank as he pushed past Cloud and strode down the hallway, his heavy boots echoing throughout the lab.

"Se...Sephiroth?" Cloud ran after the other man, struggling to keep up with his much longer strides.

Sephiroth smirked and turned slightly to meet Cloud's worried gaze. "Out of my way. I'm going to see my mother."

Before Cloud could react, Sephiroth was gone. The young SOLDIER felt his heart drop with the realization the something very bad was about to happen. By the time he had made his way back to the mansion Sephiroth was still no where in sight. He gulped nervously and ran to the front door, pushing it open and staring in horror at the sight before him.

Everywhere he looked there were flames. Thick black smoke rose from the town of Nibelheim and chilling screams could be heard from inside. Roofs collapsed sending sparks into the air and dead villagers were strewn across the dirt paths that into the once quiet and peaceful little town.

Cloud's mouth hung open has he slowly tread into his home town. His eyes watered as he watched his house slowly crumble. There was no way he could get inside with the fire and he had no clue if his mother had escaped or not.

A deep voice from behind him broke Cloud out of his trance. "Hey it's you! You're still sane, right?"

Cloud turned to find Zangan, Tifa's martial arts teacher running towards him. He stared blankly at the man, unable to form any words.

"Then come over here and help me!"

Cloud nodded, realizing there could be others stuck in the fire that needed help. He shook his head sadly at the fire that swallowed his home and jumped over a flaming pile of wood that separated him from Zangan.

"I'll check this house. You check that one over there," he said, rushing into the house closest to him. Cloud nodded and decided to try to get into his house to find out if his mother was okay. It didn't take long for his worst fear to be confirmed. He had managed to pull off the door and peer inside. Everything was engulfed in flames. There was no chance.

"Terrible..." he whispered, leaving his house behind and venturing back out into the town. Sweat dripped down his face and soaked his uniform, glistening off his face. The heat was almost unbearable and made breathing almost impossible. "Sephiroth... This is too terrible..." He clenched his hands into fists, his sorrow turning into anger and hate towards the man he admired only the day before.

He looked up at the faint sound behind him. He turned and gazed across the fires in hate at Sephiroth. The now crazed general rose his masamune in the air and brought it down with little effort on another villager, begging for his life. The famous sword sliced neatly through the air, causing more and more blood shed with every swing.

Sephiroth looked up slowly from the lifeless body that now lay at his feet. His emerald cat-like eyes met with Clouds and an evil smirk appeared on his thin lips. Cloud could only watch as the man turned slowly and walked into the flames, the masamune dripping with blood in his hand.

Cloud watched as the figure of the man who had now taken everything from him disappeared as if he were never there. The only evidence being the destruction he left in his wake. Tons of emotions were swirling up inside of the young SOLDIER, but the most prominent was rage. He knew where Sephiroth was going and that was exactly where he intended to be.

He raced through the mountain trails and caves, buster sword in hand. He was only slightly surprised that he remembered the way when the reactor came into sight. The trip had seemed much shorter than the last. The metal stairs clanged as climbed them as fast as he could. He had to stop Sephiroth before something even more horrible happened.

"Papa..."

Cloud could faintly see the outline of two figures at the entrance to where the monsters that Hojo had been experimenting on and Jenova's locked room.

"Sephiroth!"

He could hear a female voice as he got closer, sliding down the chains from the upper floor and landing on the large pipe that served as a bridge to the next room.

"Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he!"

Cloud saw Tifa's form hunched over her father, tears flowing freely from her face and the masamune laying only a few feet away. There was a huge gash in his side and blood pooled around his unmoving form, but Cloud couldn't tell whether the man was alive or not.

"Sephiroth... SOLDIER... Mako Reactors... Shinra... Everything!" Tifa shouted, standing up and looking up towards the sky. "I hate them all!"

Cloud watched as she picked up the masamune and ran into the main chamber where he could only assume Sephiroth was. He knew Tifa wouldn't be able take on the general herself. Only Sephiroth could handle the masamune. She would stand no chance.

"Mother, I'm here to see you. Please, open this door."

At the top of the stairs stood Sephiroth, arms outstretched and smiling wildly up at the tall door marked Jenova. Cloud was just behind Tifa but he wasn't fast enough to stop her.

"How could you do that to papa and all the townspeople?" she shouted, running up the stairs and past the rows of pods the lined either side. She couldn't run nearly as fast with the weight of the masamune in her hands. By the time she had reached the top it was too late. Sephiroth had already noticed her.

Tifa swung the giant sword as fast as she could but it wasn't fast enough. Sephiroth grabbed the hilt and tore it from the young girl's hands, slicing her in one quick motion.

Cloud watched in horror as her limp body tumbled down the stairs, blood spewing from the fresh wound. She crashed to the floor as Sephiroth forced open the door to Jenova's chamber.

Now Cloud knew he had to get his revenge. He ran to Tifa and knelt over her, picking her up as carefully as he could.

"...You promised... You promised that you'd come... when I was in trouble..." she managed to mutter quietly as Cloud moved her to the side where he could come back for her after he settled things with Sephiroth. He set her carefully against one of the metal pods, looking down at her worriedly. He wished he could stay by her side and make sure she was okay, but he had to stop Sephiroth before he caused any more damage.

He pursed his lips and took a few steps back from her. She was badly injured but she was alive. That was all that counted. He wasn't even sure if he would survive against Sephiroth, but this had to be done. He told himself that he would make sure he came back for her. She was all he had left.

He nodded and glared up at the word Jenova engraved into the metal above the chambers entrance. His heart pounded inside his chest as he held his sword in hand, making his way up the stairs. His grip tightened on the handle and his knuckles turned white as he heard Sephiroth's deep voice.

"Mother, let's take this planet back together. I've thought of a great idea. Let's go to the Promised Land," he spoke loudly, staring up at the metal encased figure above him.

Cloud stopped at the entrance, looking around at the numerous wires and machines that were connected to the vaguely human-looking structure above them. Wing-metal tubes fanned out from its sides and into the wall and a thick red wire connected from the floor to the structure's base. "Sephiroth..." Cloud sneered, lowering his sword slightly. "My Family! My hometown! How could you do this to them!"

Sephiroth lowered his arms to his sides, shaking in an insane laughter. "Ha, ha, ha... They've come again, mother." He looked down at the plated floor, taking a step towards his supposed mother. "With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, Mother was destined to become the ruler of this Planet. But they... Those worthless creatures are stealing the planet from Mother," he said quietly, climbing the red wire and staring up at the metal face of Jenova. "But now I'm here with you. So don't worry."

He rose his hands up slowly and grabbed the metal chest plate of the creature, ripping from it's metal base and throwing it to the side. Sparks few in all different directions as the wires were ripped apart. Sephiroth smiled wildly lights flickered on revealing what the metal structure had been hiding.

There in a blue liquid-filled cylindrical tube was the real Jenova. It's red eye glowed eerily and it's blue skin showed that it clearly was not human. A metal helmet with a name plate was fastened to the creatures head and wires were attached to most of it's visible body.

"What about MY sadness! My family... friends... The sadness of having my hometown taken away from me!" Cloud shouted up at Sephiroth. "It's the same as your sadness!"

"Ha, ha, ha ...my sadness? What do I have to be sad about?" Sephiroth laughed, the masamune gleaming in his hand and his black trench coat swaying in a light wind. "I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet." He glared down at Cloud with an insane hatred. "I have orders to take this planet back from you stupid people for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?"

Cloud looked down sadly. "Sephiroth... I trusted you..." He narrowed his eyes and shook his head with anger, taking his sword in both hands. "No, you're not the Sephiroth I used to know!" Cloud rushed at Sephiroth prepared to end his childhood hero's life.

_End of Flashback_

"...and that's the end of my story," Cloud sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wait a damn minute! Ain't there more?" Barret yelled, causing the others to wince slightly in annoyance.

"...I don't remember."

Aeris shifted a little and tilted her head in confusion. "What happened to Sephiroth?"

Cloud shrugged and pursed his lips, shifting his weight to his other side. "In terms of skill, I couldn't have killed him."

"Official records state Sephiroth is dead. I read it in the newspaper," Tifa said, sliding off the bed and stretching.

"Shinra, Inc. owns the paper, so you can't rely on that information," Aeris responded.

Cloud nodded and met Aeris' gaze. "...I want to know the truth. I want to know what happened then. I challenged Sephiroth and lived. Why didn't he kill me?"

"...I'm alive, too," Tifa added, looking around at everyone.

Aeris nodded and furrowed her brow. "Seems like a lot of this doesn't make sense. What about Jenova? It was in the Shinra building, right?"

Cloud nodded again. "Shinra shipped it from Nibelheim to Midgar."

"Did someone else carry it out after that? It was missing from the Shinra building."

"Sephiroth...?" Tifa whispered, noticing Cloud wince at the mention of his name.

Barret stomped loudly and waved his arms around in the air in frustration. "Damn! Don't none of this make sense! I'm going, going, going, gone! And I'm leavin' the thinkin' to you!" The large man thundered over to the top of the stairs, leaving dirty footprints on the shiny wooden floor. "Yo Cloud! Let's get a move on!" he said, anxious to get out.

"Wait a sec," Cloud said, glaring in annoyance at Barret.

Barret looked furious. His eyes widened in disbelief and he frowned harshly. "Cloud, what's wrong? You just gonna stand there while Sephiroth heads for the Promised Land? I ain't lettin' Sephiroth or Shinra get to no Promised Land. If they do, then we're all screwed. Y'know what I'm sayin'!"

"Oh brother..." Cloud whispered, rolling his eyes and raising his hand to his forehead.

"Fine! That's good enough." With that, Barret stormed down the stairs, leaving the rest of the group to themselves.

"Oh brother..." Cloud repeated again.

"Cloud...?" Tifa approched Cloud slowly from behind and placed a hand lightly on his armored shoulder.

The spikey haired blonde turned and looked down at her questioningly, letting his hands fall to his sides.

"How bad was I when Sephiroth cut me?"

Cloud looked down sadly at the memory, hiding his face from the others. "I thought you were a goner... I was really sad."

Aeris was left with a feeling of sorrow after hearing Cloud and Tifa's story. She had always been one to think of others before herself but at the same time she had even more questions than she had before. "I... The Ancients... Cetra... Jenova... Sephiroth and myself..." she whispered softly to herself, the whole room silent.

They all stood quietly, each of their minds on the problem at hand. Tifa finally broke the silence and pulled a piece of hair behind her ear. "Let's go. Barret's waiting."

They all nodded in agreement and made their way single file down the stairs. Red stayed a few feet behind and blinked his one eye. "What a fascinating story..." he said quietly, stretching out his front paws and trotting after the others.


	21. The Journey Eastward

Got this out way faster than i expected to! Kind of short but its just a transitioning chapter. I tried to get more into the character's internal feelings. Hope i got it right. It's hard to write the characters thoughts when I'm trying to keep as true to the game as possible, but i thought it would add a little more realism and depth to the story. I'll start working on the the next chapter immediately and will probably have it out either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. R&R!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII does not belong to me.

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Cloud took his time in the descent to the inn's lobby. Going back and retelling the story of that day had emotionally drained him. He couldn't believe that Sephiroth may actually still be alive. It was as if his worst nightmare was coming true. He desperately wished he could close his eyes and open them again and everything would be back to the way it was all those years ago. That Nibelheim would still be standing and that his mother were still alive. He knew the truth though. The truth that he would have to stand up to the man who took everything from him once again.

He stepped down from the last stair and removed his hand from the wooden railing. He briefly wished that they could have stayed longer at the cozy little inn, but he knew they had to get moving if they wanted to catch up with Sephiroth. His mind was lost in thought, trying to imagine how the confrontation would turn out. How they could possibly win some sort of advantage over the crazed killer. No matter how many different scenarios played out in his mind they always ended with the same result. Dying at the hands of his former hero.

He was in such a trance that he hardly noticed Aeris looking up at him with concern in her emerald orbs. He shook his head and blinked, trying to focus and rid his mind of such pessimistic thoughts.

Aeris smiled up him warmly. A smile that immediately brought a small sense of relief from the stressful situation. "Cloud, Take this," she said softly, handing him a small, black cellular. He took it carefully from the flower girl and turned it around in his hand and examining it briefly before shoving it in his pocket.

"[PHS], will put us in constant contact with each other," Red said, keeping an eye out in case the man behind the desk returned and panicked due to a talking beast. It annoyed him that he often had to play the part of the friendly pet but he knew it was necessary. He shook his fiery red mane and got up, treading towards the front door and pushing it open with his paw.

"Well, I'll be going," Aeris said with a small wave to Cloud and following after Red. He nodded to her and offered a slight smile with an awkward wave. He knew she must have been going through her own inner turmoils but she never showed it. She was always more worried about taking care of everyone else than herself.

The group had stopped at some of the shops that lined the stone streets of Kalm to restock on supplies with the little gil they had. Some of the townspeople had kindly given them a few ethers after hearing about their journey. Avalanche had gratefully accepted the gifts and even found a shiny silver gun labeled 'Peacemaker' in an old tower.

They had thanked the villagers and were about to leave town when a pale boy with wild red hair ran to them, his expression one of intense worry. "Listen to me!" he yelled, skidding to a halt in front of the group and falling with a solid thump. "Just now, some guy in a black cloak goes walked east towards that grassy field," he continued, breathing heavily and getting up. "And he's got this killer sword, and is looking REAL scary..." he finished while dusting off his pants.

Cloud and the others all looked at each other and understood immediately. It had to be Sephiroth. They left the scared boy behind and departed from Kalm, splitting up and heading east in the grassy plains surrounding them. The wind blew Cloud's hair wildly, half blinding him every few seconds. The cool breeze and fresh air was a pleasant change from the stuffy Midgar air that they had all been so used to. It reminded Tifa of the good memories she had of Nibelheim, but it didn't last long. Every time she thought of her home town the blaze returned to her mind. The memory of her house burning replayed in her mind over and over. Even after five years she still swore she could feel the heat of the flames licking her skin.

Barret was only focused on one thing. After hearing Cloud and Tifa's story he wanted to stop Sephiroth even more. He couldn't imagine if Sephiroth took away Marlene from him as easily as he had taken Cloud and Tifa's mother and father. He wasn't about to let that happen to anyone else. He had to keep the world safe for his daughter so that when she grew up, she wouldn't have to deal with all the trouble that he had to.

Aeris and Red XIII were mostly quiet on their path. Aeris was deep in thought and Red was naturally quiet so there wasn't much conversation shared between the two. Red was content with the feeling of the cool dirt and grass beneath his padded paws. He hadn't liked being held up in a small cell by Hojo at all. The fresh air blowing his mane made him trot happily, despite the serious problem that lay before them.

Aeris would have felt the same if she hadn't had so much on her mind. She was very happy to be free from Hojo's madness but at the same time she felt even more trapped by the fact that she was the last Cetra and therefore had the responsibility of stopping Jenova and Sephiroth.

The two groups were ambushed by multiple packs of Kalm wolves and the occasional bandit. They were much of a fight but it tired them more than it should have. With all the emotional stress of the day they all were in need of a rest. And so, their journey east continued.


	22. Choco Bill & Choco Billy Chocobo Farm

Hey everyone! First off i want to apologize for being a little late on getting this chapter out. I hope there's been a drastic improvement in my writing since chapter one which has been at least a year since I posted. I've been trying to add some more depth to the story other than just mostly dialogue so i hope i'm achieving that. It just seemed a little too... oh what's the word i'm looking for... simple before? So i may eventually go back and flesh out the first few chapters so they're more like the newer ones. Tell me what you guys think? Should i keep writing this way and put more emotions and internal thoughts that i think they may be having but not necessarily shown in the game? I just want some feed back if some of this is ok because as i've said before, i'm keeping this as true to the game as possible. Dialogue, interactions, and everything. Also, i wanted to thank omgitskirby for the nice review :) Reviews definitely give me more motivation to get writing and have chapters out sooner so thank you everyone who has taken the time to do so. So R&R everyone! Enjoy :)

* * *

Both groups had traveled as far as they could through the night. The moon rose over the mountain peaks and a chilled wind made their fingers and toes numb. If it weren't for the vicious howls and snarls that seemed to grow increasingly closer, they would have continued their trek. With the little rest they had gotten, they knew they would be pushing it by trying to take on the monsters that stalked them through the darkness.

Cloud's group was a little ahead of Aeris and Red, mostly due to the fact that they could take down the fiends that crossed them much faster with their extra member. Red XIII was perfectly able to hold his own with his sharp claws, fangs, and magic abilities, but Aeris was somewhat lacking in her fighting skills. Cloud's group clearing their path of most of the monsters proved helpful for them.

Their rest was short as Cloud had woken up Tifa and Barret as soon as the sun started to paint pastel colors over the eastern half of the sky. Barret had protested but eventually rose and helped pack the small amount of supplies that they had. Cloud had hardly rested and found himself struggling to hold back a yawn. He had too much on his mind.

Tifa had gotten a somewhat better night sleep than Cloud, but was too busy listening to the howls of Kalm wolves seemingly getting closer and closer to her tent. She rubbed her arms to get rid of the small goosebumps that covered her in the algid morning.

Small droplets of dew had collected on the grass over night, making it slightly slippery for the three to walk on. There didn't seem to be as many beasts roaming the grasslands, which Cloud was highly thankful for. They had had their fair share of fighting the day before and he knew the others were probably more than a little sore.

The air had warmed as the sun rose, giving them a little more energy now that they weren't completely numb and stiff. They had walked on well past noon and were beginning to think that they would never find another town or traveler anywhere. A small glimmer of hope rose up inside the group when they spotted a small figure out in the distance. Cloud picked up his speed at the sight, Barret and Tifa barely able to keep up. The blonde's mako enhancements in SOLDIER had given him much more energy than the others which he sometimes forgot. As they progressed further the faint object turned into what looked like a house and then into what they realized was a small farm.

The grass seemed to get greener and clawed foot prints littered the soft ground as they approached the ranch. Tifa smiled as the sound of warks filled her ears. A large fence surrounded the many giant yellow birds that trotted around happily, nibbling on greens and warking to each other. The smell of hay permeated the air making Barret sneeze loudly. The farm house, barn, and silo were all painted white and the shingles a fading red. The most notable feature however, was the yellow chocobo that was painted on the barn.

Cloud led the way to the farm house and rose his hand up slowly to knock at the wooden door. The trio waited a few seconds before the door creaked open and a stout man with brown overalls, a gray beard, and a warm smile greeted them gleefully. He beckoned them inside and rubbed his callused hands together.

The house was a bit small and made mostly of brick. It wasn't heavily furnished but it had all of the essentials and was quite cozy. A blue checker-patterned cloth was laid flat on a rectangular table in the middle of the room. A vase of flowers and a bowl of orange fruit were on top, along with a few empty mugs most likely from the family's breakfast.

"Thinking of crossing the marshes?" he questioned, mostly to Cloud, while pushing a chair into the table.

"Yeah," Cloud responded, immediately deciding that it was their best bet to finding another town and getting some more information.

The man clasped his hands together and smiled. "Hmm, then it'll probably be safer for you to get a Chocobo. That way you can zip through the marshes with the Chocobo. It's the only way to avoid being attacked by the Midgar Zolom," he said, a hint of trepidation showing in his eyes.

Cloud tilted his head and raised a brow in question. He had never heard of the Midgar Zolom and wasn't sure he wanted to find out what it was.

"Midgar Zolom...?" the old man asked, sensing that Cloud was unsure of what he was talking about. "It's a serpent-like creature over 30 feet tall!" he exclaimed while stretching out his arms on either side for emphasis. "It pick up on footsteps that enter the marshes... And then, BAM! It attacks!"

The three jumped as Choco Bill yelled, not expecting the sudden raise of volume in and dramatic turn in his voice. Tifa shifted uncomfortably, not liking the sound of this so called Midgar Zolom. Barret was hardly listening, more focused on the miniature chocobo figurines that were set atop a kitchen cabinet.

Cloud was still listening but he couldn't help but try to picture the monstrous snake bursting out of the swamp and eating them alive before they could even have the chance to fight back. He scratched his head uncomfortably and crossed his arms, forcing the images out of his head and listen to the rest of what Choco Bill had to say.

"To avoid that, buy a Chocobo at the Choco Bill & Choco Billy Chocobo Farm," he said proudly. "To purchase a Chocobo, please talk to my grandson. He's in the Chocobo stables at the far right end of the farm," he finished, pointing in the general direction.

Cloud turned and met Tifa's apprehensive gaze. She shrugged slightly and offered him a smile as if to say 'why not?' They gave their thanks to Choco Bill and exited the house single file. They trudged past a stone well next to Choco Bill's house and over to the large barn at the back of the property. The chocobo's within the fence followed them along the wooden planks, warking happily and staring at them with curiosity.

Tifa reached up and scratched the closest chocobo's head, smiling at the happy wark she received in turn. She had never rode on a chocobo before and with the bird's seemingly friendly nature she couldn't help but be a little excited.

Cloud motioned for her to follow as he and Barret stepped into the barn. The smell of hay was much stronger the farther they ventured into the large building. There were at least a dozen hay-filled stables on either side of the enclosure. Small windows were placed in each one, flooding the area with a warm light.

"Do you want a Chocobo?" a teenage boy with a hat that appeared far too large for his head and blue overalls stepped out from a stable and asked.

"Mmm... Give me one," Cloud responded with a nod, sounding a little more harsh than he had intended.

The boy rolled down his sleeves and placed his rake against the wall. "You old folks are out of luck!" he said with a thick accent that was almost hard to understand.

"Old folks...?" Cloud narrowed his eyes at the boy, both because of being called old and being told that he couldn't buy a chocobo. He wasn't sure which one was worse. He crossed his arms and continued glaring at Choco Billy, expecting an explanation.

"We're all out of Chocobos. I'm taking care of those ones out there for someone else," he said, pointing out at the pasture and adjusting his hat as it slid down. "You know, if you really want a Chocobo, you should go out and catch one," he suggested.

Cloud swore he heard a slight sarcasm in the teenagers voice but he let it slip. They had bigger things to worry about.

"Want to know how to catch a Chocobo?"

"Where are they?" Cloud asked, knowing that it would be helpful to know even though he wasn't sure he liked this kid very much.

Choco Billy sat down on the crate next to him and tilted his hat back again. "You see those claw prints out there? Wild Chocobo's will appear in those areas. But, if you don't have 'Chocobo Lure' they won't come out. They very cautious animals by nature."

"Chocobo Lure?"

"'Chocobo Lure' is a type of materia which attracts Chocobos," he continued. "If you equip this, they'll come to you. But, without it, they won't appear.

"How do I catch one?" Cloud decided to be simple and to the point. Just ask for the basics and get out of there as soon as possible. They needed to catch up with Sephiroth and wasting time was not an option.

"A wild Chocobo always appears with other monsters. But, you won't be able to catch it because of the monsters. That is why you must defeat the monsters first before you catch the Chocobo."

"And then?"

"Also, wild Chocobos are really cautious. They'll run away from the slightest things. But, if you use 'Greens' they'll focus on that, and won't run away."

"What else?"

"Whatever you do, don't make Chocobos angry. They're usually calm, but if you get them angry, you'll get hurt. Oh, and remember, once you get off a Chocobo, it'll escape. Well then, shall we get down to business?"

Cloud could practically see the money signs appearing in the boy's eyes, but they had no choice. They had to get the requisites or they wouldn't be able to cross the marshes.

"I'll sell you the 'Chocobo Lure' for 2000 gil, right now. You want it?"

Cloud nodded reluctantly and pulled out their bag of gil, digging through it for the required amount. He glanced back at Barret who looked as if he were about to start complaining about the high cost, but thankfully kept his mouth shut. He looked back and frowned as he dropped the gil into the boy's hand.

"Thank you!" Choco Billy said happily, shoving his hand in the pocket of his overalls and pulling out a shiny purple orb. He handed it to Cloud who examined it for a moment before snapping it into an empty slot on his sword.

"It wouldn't hurt to buy some 'Greens' either. Oh, and how fast a Chocobo'll finish eating depends of what type of 'Greens' you feed them," he explained, hopping off the crate and pulling a few baskets of greens over to the group.

They looked through the baskets and decided on some Gysahl Greens and a few Tantal Greens. It was expensive but Cloud figured it would be better than getting eaten by a giant snake that preyed on anyone who stepped foot in the nearby marsh. They gave Choco Billy the gil and stuffed the greens in their bag where they would be easy to retrieve if they happened to run across a chocobo.

Cloud was glad to finally leave the farm but he couldn't deny that even though Choco Billy had been rather annoying, he was was helpful when it came to anything about chocobos.

Barret was still angry that they had spent nearly three quarters of their gil on chocobo catching supplies, but was a little happier when they came across a shiny red materia that was simply laying on the ground waiting for them to pick it up. Summons were always a nice addition to have to their collection and would heavily increase their strength.

Tifa wasn't so annoyed with Choco Billy but she had hoped that they could just buy one of the chocobos that were already tame and trained. She only hoped that catching a chocobo wouldn't be too much work.


End file.
